My Soul to Keep
by Trufreak89
Summary: Maya's gone and 'A' is haunting Emily's dreams. As the line between fantasy and reality begins to blur Emily finds herself trapped in a waking nightmare, and begins seeking solace from the one person who seems to be able to anchor her to the real world.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **My Soul to Keep

**Summary: **Maya's gone and 'A' is haunting Emily's dreams. As the line between fantasy and reality begins to blur Emily finds herself trapped in a waking nightmare, and seeking solace from the one person who seems to be able to anchor her in the real world; Paige.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Pretty Little Liars or any of the characters associated with the show.

* * *

When Emily's eyes opened she was surrounded by all-consuming darkness. It was thick and impenetrable and she felt desperation welling up inside of her as she lashed out and felt her arms and legs moving freely through the air in front of her; though she couldn't see them. She felt as though she were floating in a void, weightless and without being; like she was slowly disappearing. She opened her mouth to scream but no sound could escape as water flooded through her parted lips. She was underwater, deep beneath the surface where not even the faintest speckle of light could penetrate the inky blackness. Somehow, realising she was underwater helped to calm her and her fear gave way to relief. The water was like a second home, a sanctuary where she had always been able to leave behind her worries.

Pushing her arms up above her head she used her long powerful legs to propel her back up to the surface. Her lungs were aching by the time she broke free to the surface and she greedily filled them with air. As her legs kicked beneath her, keeping her afloat, she squinted against the harsh sunlight that reflected off the water. She had no idea where she was. The lake she had been at the bottom of was far too big to be the one that she had shared with Maya, and there were no cabins or docks in sight. There was nothing. The lake was surrounded by trees that grew thicker and closer together further inland. There were rocks at the water's edge and she started to swim towards them. Despite the heat from the midday sun the water was cold and the teenager's energy reserves were quickly wearing out. She needed to get her feet back on dry land before she attempted to sort her head out.

She scrambled up on to the shore, the jagged rocks biting in to her palms and snagging on her clothes. Her jeans were soaked through and the wet denim felt tight against her skin as she moved off the rocks. She sat with her back against a big oak tree, catching her breath as she took in the woods around her. She had done a fair bit of hiking with her dad over the years, but nothing of what she could see looked familiar to her. She couldn't remember how she had ended up in the lake. She didn't have her bag with her, or her phone or her car keys, just the clothes on her back; which were sticking uncomfortably to her skin. She pulled her T-shirt over her head and dropped it on the ground beside her. Her vest underneath was just as wet, but the material wasn't clinging to her quite so much without the weight of her tee.

She felt tired and groggy as sat there trying to get her bearings. Her dad had taught her what to do if she ever got lost in the woods, little tips and hints that would help her find her way on to a path or to call for help, but having no clue where she was or how she had even got there to start with was making her anxious and she just couldn't think of what she was supposed to be doing. She tried instead to focus on the last thing she_ could _remember.

She'd said goodnight to her parents and had gone to bed early for the first day of school. She'd spent most of her summer in Haiti, working on a community housing project to help her try and forget about all the craziness with A and Maya. It had worked for a few weeks, but being back in Rosewood had brought everything flooding back to her; the pain, the grief, the anger. She'd been avoiding the others since she'd got back in to town and she hadn't been looking forward to going back to school and facing everyone. She and the other girls were still the talk of the town from the night of the Masquerade ball.

She frowned as she squinted against the glare of the low hanging sun. It had definitely been night time from what she could remember. Had she gone sleepwalking in the night and ended up in the woods? Surely she wouldn't have been able to walk so far? And for that matter, how had she managed to get in to the middle of the lake without waking up? She got to her feet and scanned the shore line, looking for any sign of how she had gotten there. There were no cars in sight though. There were no cars, no cabins, no nothing. Just thick clusters of trees that seemed to grow closer together with every passing second, as though they were moving in to get her. Shaking off the hysteria that was close to taking over, Emily decided to try and find a path of some sort that could potentially lead her back to civilisation, or maybe even just a ranger's cabin with a working radio.

The forest floor was littered with thick roots and dense undergrowth that Emily found difficult to manoeuvre. Her sneakers kept slipping on moss covered tree roots and she almost lost one of them when her foot got caught in some brambles. "Damn it!" She went over, twisting her ankle. The pain was immense and she sent the birds flying from the trees above as she cursed. Until then the forest had been eerily quiet. As the squawking of the birds died down Emily picked up on another sound; something much bigger than a bird was crashing through the woods. She barely had time to react when  
something big and black jumped out in front of her, almost trampling her.

She scuttled back, not able to run with her twisted ankle. Her frazzled brain quickly processed the beast in front of her and she realised she was staring up at a horse. A big black steed with a glossy mane and a proud face. "What the hell are you doing down there?" Emily's attention shot up to the rider and relief instantly flooded through her. It was Paige. Paige McCullers was sitting on a horse like a literal knight in actual armour and Emily almost laughed at the notion; she would have if the other girl hadn't been scowling down at her. "Are you simple girl? Why are you lying there? I could have killed you!" Paige's tone was sharp and cruel, and that wasn't the only thing different about her. Her expression was hardened, as though she hadn't smiled in years, and her clothes were just _wrong. _She looked like she was dressed for a renaissance fair. She wore black breeches tucked in to knee high cavalier boots and a deep green tunic under a brown leather armour vest. A long black cloak completed her ensemble, as well as a sword and holster at her side. Emily was lost for words as she stared up at the other girl; not quite sure what the hell was going on.

"These woods are not safe for a young woman to travel." Paige's tone softened just a little as she dismounted, her heavy boots thudding against the ground. Emily shuffled back again, trying to get to her feet. The other girl was acting like she had no idea who she was. She winced as her ankle gave way again and she ended up back on the floor. "You're hurt?" Paige knelt down beside her and reached out to check her ankle. Emily stiffened, but didn't pull away as the other girl pulled off her leather gloves and took a firm hold of her foot. She twisted and stretched it a little, testing the movement.

"I think it's just sprained. I can give you a ride to the nearest town…you really shouldn't be in the Rose Woods alone."  
"Rosewood?" Emily finally spoke, finding her voice again.  
"So you're not mute then? I was beginning to wonder." The corners of Paige's mouth twitched in to an almost smile. "And these are the Rose woods or the edge of them at least. Most of the girls in the neighbouring towns know not to come in here by themselves…but you don't look like you come from any town I've been to." Emily blushed as she felt Paige's gaze travelling up and down the length of her body; though the other girl was mostly just taking in Emily's strange clothing.

"I uh…I have no idea where I am or how I got here." Emily admitted as Paige helped her to her feet, taking on most of her weight to keep the pressure off her ankle.  
"I get days like that too." Paige finally managed a smile and Emily relaxed in to her a little more. "I'm Paige."  
"Yeah I know…" The other girl looked at her funny and Emily quickly covered. She had no idea what was going on, but she wasn't about to scare away her only lifeline. "I mean…I'm Emily."  
"Well Emily, I can take you to the next town over and you can figure out what you want to do from there." Paige shifted to help boost Emily up on to her horse, but the other girl tried to back away, almost falling and taking Paige down with her. "Whoa, steady!"  
"I…I can't get on that."

Emily had never ridden a horse in her life, and the huge black creature that towered over her seemed all too daunting. "Don't worry about old Thunder here; she's as steady as a rock!" Paige slapped the horse's side and it made a noise somewhere between appreciation and indignation. "You're not going to get far on that leg and you don't want to still be here after dark." Paige cast a glance at the low hanging sun, knowing they probably had less than two hours of light left. Emily reluctantly gave in and, with Paige's help, awkwardly mounted the horse. Paige took the reins and ran her hand through the horse's mane to soothe it before leading it on. Emily silently sat on the horse, watching the unfamiliar trees pass her by. Paige didn't try to make any small talk and that suited her just fine. She still had no idea what was going on.

They'd been travelling for about twenty minutes, Paige having directed the horse to a dirt path, when they came across an upturned cart in the middle of the road. It looked like it had been full of hay and most of it had spilled out on to the path. An old woman and a young child, dressed in little more than rags, were trying to clear it up. Paige steadied the horse, stopping it in its tracks. "Wait here." She muttered and Emily was pretty sure she was talking to Thunder, not her. She stepped closer to the car and for a second Emily thought she was going to offer to help them, but she stopped a few yards short and placed her hand on the grip of her sword. "You there, clear the road. Now!" Her tone was short, like it had been with Emily earlier.  
"Paige!" Emily frowned, surprised by the other girl's outburst. Paige was hardly a saint, but she was never normally so impolite; though she didn't usually carry a sword either so it wasn't like her rudeness was the _strangest _part of Emily's day.

"Forgive us miss, but I'm just a frail old dear, could you perhaps lend us a hand?" The white haired woman was plump and jolly and she reminded Emily of Hanna's grandmother.  
"No, I can't." Paige replied curtly as she took a firmer grip on the hilt of her broad sword. "Why don't you ask the man trying so hard to conceal himself in those trees over there? He's obviously not very good at hiding; maybe lifting carts is his strong suit?" The old woman lost her smile and she didn't look as jolly as a burly man stepped out from behind one of the thicker trees. Paige drew her sword from its sheath as he took a menacing step towards them. He stopped as his eyes narrowed on the weapon.

"Easy little lady! That's a pretty sword, but it looks mighty heavy. Why don't I relieve you of it?" He took another step forward, his beady eyes never leaving Paige as she drew the sword up to her shoulder.  
"Over my dead body." She growled back at him, eliciting a laugh from the man.  
"Now that _would _be a shame." He licked his dry cracked lips as he looked Paige up and down; but then his gaze travelled to Emily. Her blood ran cold as the bald man stared at her like she was a prize piece of meat.  
"Hey! Eyes front!" Paige snapped at him, bringing his attention back to her.

"You know, that looks like the kind of sword the Kings knights would carry…I suggest you put it down and hand over your gold, or you'll find yourself as dead as the king is-" Paige let out a howl of rage as she lunged towards the bandit, her sword narrowly missing his chest and crashing down against the ground. She recovered quickly and pulled back before he could land a blow to her head with one of his beefy fists. He used the second he had to pull a knife, though it looked pitiful in comparison to Paige's mighty sword. Emily watched helplessly from the top of the horse as the pair traded blows, Paige dancing around the bear of a man with the same kind of grace she had in the water when she was swimming.

The other girl didn't have long to worry about Paige though, she soon had troubles of her own as the boy who had been by the cart darted over towards the horse, intending to pilfer whatever was in the packs that were slung over each side of the saddle. He looked like one of those kids that was raised by wolves, with his long scraggily hair, grubby skin and wide eyes. His fingers made light work of the buckle on the saddle as he tried to get to the packs. "Hey!" Emily protested as the horse started to move. The little boy ignored her and carried on tugging at the saddle, intending to dislodge Emily off the horse. She kicked out at him with her foot, but he caught her sneaker. "Let go!" Emily tried tugging her leg back, but her moving around so much spooked the horse more than the boy and Thunder went darting forward. Emily's sneaker came off at the same time as the saddle slipped and she found herself crashing down to the ground. She heard Paige calling out for her as her head slammed off the ground and then everything went dark.

"Emily? Emily?" The shouting wouldn't stop and Emily found herself groaning as she opened her eyes. She found herself staring at the familiar magnolia walls of her room. "Emily are you up yet? You don't want to be late for your first day back!" She heard her mom shouting up to her from downstairs in the kitchen; the scent of waffles followed her voice up the stairs, causing Emily's stomach to grumble. She let out a sigh of relief as she flopped back down on to her bed, her head sinking in to her pillows. It had been a dream. A weird ass dream that she had finally woken up from. She hadn't gone sleepwalking in the night, or woken up in an alternate dimension where Paige rode a horse and carried a sword.

"Yeah, I'm up Mom!" She called back down as she pushed the covers away and slipped out of bed. She checked her phone and found she already had a text from Spencer, asking if she wanted to meet for a coffee in the quad before school started. It was nice to check her phone and not have any threatening messages from A; Mona was safely locked away in Radley Asylum. She couldn't get near a cell phone, or any of the girls. There was nothing she could to do hurt them anymore. Emily sent a quick text back to Spencer, promising to meet her by the coffee stand on campus in an hour, before setting her phone aside and heading for the shower.

When she was finally dressed she went downstairs to find both of her parents hovering about in the kitchen. "Hey Emmy, you ready to get back in the saddle?"  
"What?" She almost choked on the orange juice her mother had handed her as her dad beamed at her from the other side of the kitchen counter. His smile wavered at her reaction.  
"School." He clarified. "You know if you're not ready to go back-"  
"I'm ready." Emily pushed aside her doubts and the lingering memories of her dream as she stood up straight, trying to reassure her dad that she wasn't about to have another breakdown. "I'm meeting Spencer soon so I've got to run-"  
"Hold on young lady! You need to eat." Pam put a plate of blueberry waffles down in front of her and it wasn't exactly a chore for Emily to eat them. She knew her mother had gone to extra lengths to make her feel better on her first day back and she appreciated it. Once she'd cleared her plate she hugged both of her parents and kissed them goodbye before heading out to the school.

She was a little early for meeting Spencer, so she parked up and sat in her car, staring up at the imposing building of the High School. She had been dreading going back, to have everyone talking about her and Maya and what had happened with Mona and the others; but part of her was looking forward to getting back in to her usual routine of classes and practise. She was definitely looking forward to getting back in the water. She hadn't put in much practise over the summer, though Paige had tried to coax her out of her room for a swim a few times before she'd left for Haiti; but her feelings for the other girl had never exactly been plutonic and spending time with her so soon after Maya's death seemed a little inappropriate. She had thought about her a lot though and she was considering texting her as she got out of her car and made her way to meet Spencer.

She was so lost in thought that she didn't hear her name being called as she crossed the parking lot. "Emily!" She turned just in time to see Paige's bike skidding to a halt, barely inches away from her. "Jesus Fields! You just stepped out of nowhere!"  
"At least you weren't on a horse." The other girl mumbled, more to herself than to Paige.  
"Huh?"  
"Nothing….sorry, I was a million miles away." She apologised as Paige hopped off her bike and started walking along beside her.  
"Somewhere nice I hope?" She offered Emily that easy smile of hers and it felt like they had never been apart. Emily liked it when things were easy between them, when they weren't walking on egg shells around each other. She had hated it when Paige had started ignoring her after the whole Samara thing, though she could hardly blame the other girl.

"Actually I was just thinking about this dream I had." Emily had no idea why she was even mentioning the dream to Paige, but it had been so real and vivid, she could still practically remember every detail of it. "It was so weird, I woke up at the bottom of this lake, but it was so peaceful, like going home after a really long time, you know? Sorry, I'm rambling." Emily nervously tucked her hair behind her ear as she ducked her head.  
"I'm no expert on dream interpretation, but I think I know what that means."  
"Really?"  
"Yeah, you're part fish, Fields." Paige grinned at her, earning a playful shove from the other girl. "So how was your summer? I tried calling you a couple of times last week, but you never picked up."

"I was sort of…" Emily stalled, trying to pick her words carefully to avoid any awkwardness between them.  
"Avoiding me?" Paige helpfully supplied, causing the other girl to blush. She couldn't exactly deny it though so she nodded in agreement. "Look, I get it. I do. After everything with Maya...but I want you to know that I'm here for you. As a friend."  
"Thank you." Emily managed a small smile, but the mention of Maya had definitely put a dampener on her mood. "I'm meeting Spencer for coffee, but we should hang out some time. Soon."  
"I'd like that. I'll see you around." She waved Emily off as she left her to chain her bike up.

"Em! Over here!" Spencer wasn't alone at the table she was sitting at; Hanna called Emily over with a cheery grin and Aria offered her a wave as she took a seat. It looked like her friends had planned an ambush. "Hey! You look great, did you lose weight?"  
"A little." She hadn't been able to eat much in the first few weeks after learning about Maya and working so hard in Haiti for the summer had definitely made her shed a few pounds. Some of it was lean muscle, which she would need to work on getting back before the start of the swimming season. Maybe she would ask Paige if she wanted to train with her. "Mom's been trying to feed me up ever since I got back last week."  
"We tried to call you-" Aria started but Emily cut her off with yet another apology.  
"Sorry, I just needed some time, you know?"  
"Of course." Aria nodded as she put her hand over Emily's. "We're her for you, whatever you need. Even if it's space."  
"And I'm always available if you want to take your mind off things with shopping." Hanna beamed.  
"Yeah, by the time you've finished shoe shopping with Han you'll be too brain dead to think of _anything_."  
"Hey!"

Emily smiled as her friends descended in to their usual spirited bickering. It felt nice to be back with them. She had missed the other girls over the summer, but she had needed the time away from Rosewood to clear her head. She felt in a much better place and Maya's death didn't sting quite so much anymore. The ache from losing her was still there, but it had dulled with time and she finally felt as though she could function like a human being again. She sipped at her coffee as she listened to the others. She still felt a little out of it and her dream was lingering in the back of her mind.

Despite being distracted she made it through the first day back at school without too much trouble. She'd done her best to catch up on the work she'd missed at the end of last year and, save for a few curious glances and whispers, no one seemed to be paying any extra attention to her or the others. She was still a little relieved when the final bell went though, she felt pretty run down and she was ready to go home. On her way out of class she bumped in to Paige in the hall and found her talking to one of the juniors from the swim team. Emily thought her name was Kate, but she couldn't be sure. She smiled at them both as Paige noticed her and turned her attention away from the blonde girl. "Hey Fields, Kate and I were talking about getting some pre-season practises in with the rest of the girls this weekend. You in, Fish?" She grinned, her invitation somehow coming out more like a challenge.  
"Sure, I was going to ask if you wanted to get some practise in anyway. You'll need it this year if you want to beat me McCullers." She laughed as they enjoyed their usual camaraderie.  
"Please, you're going to be eating my dust this year!"  
"Uh, I've got to go." Kate interrupted them as she shifted her bag on her shoulder and shot Paige a shy smile that had Emily's stomach tying itself in knots. "I'll catch you later, Paige. Emily." She nodded at the other girl before walking off, leaving Emily and Paige alone together.

"I didn't know you and Kate were so…close." Emily tried her best to keep the jealousy out of her voice, but thankfully Paige seemed oblivious to it anyway as she laughed off her comment.  
"We're not really. We just started talking more over the summer, she's been working on her breast stroke at the public pool and I gave her a few pointers."  
"I'll bet." Emily remarked dryly. "Hey, do you need a ride home?" She quickly covered as Paige finally picked up on her tone and gave her an inquisitive frown.  
"I've got my bike."

"Oh, yeah. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then… or whatever." She fidgeted uncomfortably as they walked out the main doors and down the front steps.  
"Um, do you want to go for a coffee or something?" Paige suggested as they lingered by the bike stand, reluctant to let Emily slip away so easily.  
"I don't think so. I'm pretty beat. Another time?"  
"Sure." Paige sighed, trying not to let her disappointment show. "See you around."

When Emily got back home she was glad to find the house empty. She didn't quite feel up to being interrogated by her mother on how her day had gone. She felt tired and restless and a little bit annoyed at herself for how she had reacted to seeing Kate and Paige together. The other girl was simply her friend, nothing more, and that had been Emily's choice. Paige had opened her heart to her, more than once, and she had shot her down. She didn't have the right to be jealous when some other girl was sniffing around her. Shrugging of her jacket and dropping her school bag on her desk she lay down on her bed and wrapped the comforter around her. She felt like she'd barely gotten any sleep the night before and she figured a quick nap before dinner wouldn't hurt.

* * *

Emily's eyes snapped open as she felt a searing pain in the back of her head. Her vision was blurred at first, but as she blinked the world around her came in to focus. She found Paige leaning over her, concern written all over her face as her long auburn bangs fell in her eyes. Emily reached out to brush the hair aside without really thinking. Paige caught her wrist and quickly dropped it before pulling back. "You're awake. That was some fall."  
"What happened?" Emily frowned as she pushed herself up so she was sitting. She found her back resting against the bark of a tree and her hands resting in the dirt. She was back in the forest; back in the dream.  
"Thunder got spooked and threw you off. Don't worry, I sent those bandits on their way." Paige shifted so she was sitting beside her and handed over a canteen of water. Emily barely noticed it; she was too busy pinching herself, trying to wake up. She rarely had the same dream twice, and her dreams never picked up after each other like a story in a book. She _knew _she was dreaming, yet the dirt beneath her fingers felt as real as the sheets on her bed. The bark digging in to her back was uncomfortable and it was _real_; just like the pain in her head. "It's getting dark, we should get moving again. Emily?"  
"Huh?" Emily finally focused on the girl beside her. "Go where?"  
"The next town, it's not far from here. Like I said, I'll get you there and then you're on your own-"  
"Don't leave me." Emily blurted out. Knowing this was all a dream made it easier for her to say the things she really wanted. She had wanted to stay with Paige, to go for coffee with her after school, but she had been too afraid to admit it.

"Emily, I…" Paige faltered as she looked away from Emily's big brown eyes. They were boring straight in to her and she couldn't stand it. The girl was a stranger, she meant nothing to her, yet Paige found herself inexplicably drawn to the strangely dressed young woman. "I can only take you as far as the next town. I have things to do. Important things."  
"Like what?" Emily challenged.

Paige held her head up high as she stared Emily in the eyes, her gaze unwavering. "I'm going to kill a witch."  
"A witch?" Emily scoffed, though she stopped laughing as Paige's expression hardened again. "Sorry. So, this witch, what did she do to you?" The other girl shifted uncomfortably, clearly it was personal and she didn't want to talk about it. Emily took the canteen of water from her and drank in silence, waiting for Paige to either answer or change the subject. Clearly her imagination had given dream Paige some issues.  
"She took everything from me." Paige finally answered; her expression was dark and smouldering. "A took everything-"  
"A?" Emily scowled. She was done with 'A'. She had finally gotten rid of 'A' in the real world, she didn't need her haunting her in her dreams too; even if those dreams brought an armour clad Paige with a big ass sword. "A's not a witch. She's just a girl, a screwed up girl called Mona-"  
"What do you know of her?" It was Paige's turn to scowl as she jumped on Emily's words. "No one knows her. Where she came from or how she got her powers, it's a mystery…two years ago she killed the King and Queen of the Rose Woods…she's taken the throne for herself."  
"Mona's ruling Rosewood?" Emily was beginning to think she had a really messed up imagination. She had finally gotten rid of 'A' in the real world, yet her subconscious refused to cut her a break.  
"Not for long." Paige set her jaw again as she got to her feet, her hand findings its way to the sword at her side like it was a comforter. "I'm going to kill her; and you're going to help me!"

* * *

**A/N: So I'm trying something new, a sort of Paily fairy-tale that's been bugging me to write it for a while. I'm still working on my other PLL fic 'Cold Front' as well as a ton of other fics for different fandoms, so I can't promise speedy updates, but if people are interested I'll definitely carry on with this. **


	2. Chapter 2

"What do you know about A?" Paige pressed as she double checked Thunder's saddle and the packs slung over his back. She didn't want Emily falling from the horse again; the strange girl's safety had suddenly become a lot more important. She would do everything in her power to keep the other girl safe if it meant she could use her to take down A. Getting out of the woods was the first thing on Paige's list of protecting Emily.  
"Her name is Mona Vanderwaal. She's a seventeen year old girl from Rosewood. She terrorised me and my friends all last year, but we beat her... We won and she went away." Mona had been locked up in Radley Sanatorium since the night of the Masquerade ball. She had lost any power she held over Emily and the others when she had lost her freedom.

"And then she came here." Paige's jaw was set tight as she finished securing the packs.  
"Yeah, I guess she did." Emily agreed. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself as she glanced around the woods. A may have left her in the real world, but she was still lingering in her subconscious. Maybe that was why her mind had created such an elaborate fantasy world for her, one where Mona was the big bad witch and Paige was her knight in shining armour. Her fellow Shark had been a rock for her in the months after Maya's death, even when Emily had started pulling away from her and everybody else. She'd been there for her, waiting patiently for Emily to let her back in. She was still waiting.

"How did you and your friends stop her? She's a powerful witch…she took on the King's armies, and his knights…she killed them all."  
"It was luck." Emily shrugged, because it had just been dumb luck that had brought Mona down. If Spencer hadn't have put all the pieces together that night, and if Mona hadn't fallen from that ledge, then 'A' would still be terrorising them. "It was just dumb luck. I guess when the truth came out, she lost any power she had over us."  
"I don't think that will work here, the whole kingdom is terrified of her." Paige huffed.  
"But not you." It wasn't a question and Emily couldn't help the small smile playing on her lips as she watched the flash of pride in Paige's eyes. It was a familiar look on her; the same one she got when she won a race or beat one of her times in the pool.  
"No. Not me." Paige managed a small smile of her own. "I'm still not sure how much use you'll actually be to me, but you know things about A, and that's an advantage I could use."

Emily didn't like the idea of Paige 'using' her for anything, but seeing as it was her dream she pretty much had to go along with it until she woke up. She'd only fallen asleep on her bed after school; she'd wake up soon wouldn't she? Her mom would come home and call her for dinner and she'd once again be awake in a world where Mona was safely locked away and Paige's smile actually reached her eyes. "Where do we start?" Emily quizzed, though since it was her dream she practically questioning herself.  
"We'll carry on heading to the next town, get some food and shelter for the night, and then we'll figure out where we go from there. Hop up." Paige patted the horse's backside for Emily to climb back on, causing Thunder to let out a cry of indignation.  
"It's ok. I'll walk." Emily's ankle was still swollen and painful to walk on, but she had already been thrown from the horse once and she didn't want a repeat performance. Sensing her unease, Paige mounted the steed first and held out her hand for her to take.  
"It's ok. I won't let you fall again."

Swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat, Emily nodded and took the offered hand to help her up on to the back of the horse. Settled behind the other girl she looked around for a safe place to put her hands. Her choices being between wrapping her arms Paige's waist, and gripping the back of the saddle. She chose the latter option and Paige shook her head, an easy smile playing on her lips. "If you don't want to fall off again, you should really hold on to me."  
"I'm fine." Emily asserted as she tried to ignore just how closely they were pressed together.  
"Suit yourself." Paige shrugged. She clicked her tongue as she took hold of the reigns and Thunder shot in to a gallop. Startled, Emily's hands shot forward, wrapping tightly around Paige's waist. She heard the other girl chuckling softly to herself in response. Being proved right was a McCullers' favourite past time, even in Emily's mind.

She started to feel a little sick and disorientated as the forest flashed by, the trees blurring in to an endless blanket of green as Thunder moved between them almost at the speed of sound itself. Emily tried closing her eyes over, no longer able to stomach the sight of the world whizzing past, but closing her eyes just seemed to make her more aware of everything else. From the way she slammed against the saddle every time Thunder's hooves connected with the ground, to the almost as uncomfortable way her body seemed to be on fire where she was pressed up against the other girl. They were so close together that Emily was catching her scent with every breath; honey and lavender, though the usual tang of chlorine that coated both of their skins was missing, a stark reminder that none of it was real.

"Emmy! Dinner's ready!" The teenager shot up in her bed, disorientated by being woken up so abruptly. She actually had to take a minute to steady herself as she figured out where she was. Her curtains were still open, revealing an inky black sky that had long since lost the light. Her limbs felt stiff and heavy as she stretched before climbing out of bed. A quick glance at the clock beside her bed told her it was almost seven and she had slept for far longer than she had expected. Shrugging off her tiredness she headed downstairs to join her parents for dinner.

"Were you sleeping, dear?" Pam asked. Her expression was one of concern as she took in her daughter's dishevelled state. Her hair was flat to her head from sleeping and she was yawning even as she took her seat at the dining table.  
"Yeah. I guess the first day back just tired me out a little bit." Emily shrugged, trying not to make a big deal out of her extended nap. Her parents had been treating her like she was made from glass ever since the night Maya had been found, and they were only just starting to ease up on her a bit.  
"How was it?" Her dad asked, steering the conversation to something lighter before Pam could carry on questioning her about how she was coping.  
"Good." Emily nodded, biting back another yawn. "I caught up with Hanna, Spence and Aria, and I saw a few of the girls from the swim team. It was only the first day back so classes were really light."

"Did you see Paige? She called at the house a few times last week." Pam tried to sound casual as she kept her gaze on her plate, but Emily wasn't fooled. Her mother had mentioned running in to Nick McCullers over the summer. He'd once again apologised for his behaviour earlier in the year. He'd lingered for a little while after his apology, trying to make small talk, until he eventually admitted that Paige had come out to him and he wasn't sure how to cope with it. Pam hadn't exactly had the best reaction at the time that Emily had come out to her, but she had grown to accept it and had been happy to sit down with Nick to talk.

"Yeah, I did." Emily answered cautiously, not sure where her mother was going with it. From across the table her father gave her mother a pointed look and she changed the conversation again, going back to asking Emily about her classes. Emily ate slowly, not really feeling hungry. She slumped against the table, her head resting on one hand as she toyed with her food. "Can I be excused? I've got some homework to finish."  
"Homework on your first day?" Pam questioned. Her brow was knitting together with concern, Emily had barely eaten a thing and she was practically falling asleep at the table.

"It's some of the work I need to catch up on from last year." Emily lied. She had just about caught up with the work she had missed in the last month of school; she just wanted to get back upstairs to her room. Part of her was more than a little intrigued to see if she would dream about the Rose Woods again, though she knew the chance of her dream just picking up at the same place a second time in a row would be highly unlikely.  
"Of course you can, Emmy." Wayne folded before his wife could get a word in and Emily offered him a smile and a kiss on the cheek before she left the table.

"She's still not right." Pam sighed as she shook her head. Emily had gone to pieces after Maya's death, and though she seemed to be doing better after her working holiday in Haiti, she was still far from the girl she had been.  
"Just give her time, and a little space." Wayne insisted as he squeezed her hand on top of the table. "She'll get there."

Upstairs, Emily changed in to her bed clothes and pulled back the covers of her bed. It was barely eight o'clock, but she felt exhausted. She didn't even bother to turn on her TV, knowing she wouldn't be awake long enough to really watch anything anyway. She sunk down on to the bed, wrapping the covers around herself tightly as her eyes closed over almost of their own accord; leaving reality behind.

When she opened her eyes again she found herself leaning in to Paige's back, breathing in her sweet scent of honey and lavender, mixed with the damp earthy smell of the woods. The sun was hanging low in the sky and the trees were becoming more spaced apart as they neared the town Paige was taking them too. Emily still wasn't sure how she was going to sleep and not only having the same dream, but waking up at seemingly the same point the dream had last ended, but none of it mattered as she silently sat on the back of the horse. She had found her own little sanctuary, far away from her troubles in Rosewood, and it was a welcome relief.

"Here, take this." Paige pulled her cloak off after she'd climbed down from Thunder, and handed it over to Emily. "I don't want your weird clothes drawing attention to us." They had arrived in town just after nightfall. Though there wasn't much town to speak of, just a handful of houses, a few market stalls and a tavern.  
"Yeah, because your huge sword isn't going to draw attention or anything." Emily grumbled as she pulled the cloak around her shoulders. The material was surprisingly soft and warm, her jeans had finally dried out but she had been starting to feel the cold ever since the sun had disappeared below the horizon. She knew she was dreaming, yet the bitter wind biting at her flesh felt as real as anything as she pulled the cloak tighter around herself.

"You weren't complaining about my sword when I was dealing with those bandits." Paige challenged with a smirk as she tied her horse up outside of the tavern. Thunder didn't look too happy about being tied to the wooden post, but Paige ran a hand through his mane to soothe him, whispering sweetly in his ear. Emily couldn't help but smile as she watched the other girl with the horse. Paige had been quiet and distant the entire ride, her expression a mixture of anger and unease ever since Emily had agreed to help her take down A; but with Thunder she was kind and gentle, more like the Paige she knew in real life.  
"I was unconscious when you were dealingwith the bandits." Technically Emily had been _awake _as dream Paige had tackled the bandits who'd tried to ambush them on the road, but Emily was pretty sure that trying to explain that would make her even crazier than she was for actually going along with her dream.

It had been a long time since her dreams had been about something other than Maya or Ali's death; though A's presence was definitely a recurring theme. She had rarely slept over the summer, plagued by so many unending nightmares. Paige on a horse was definitely a welcome relief from the dreams where she was being buried alive, and as long as she was sleeping she wasn't exactly going anywhere, she might as well play along with the little quest her brain was setting her. Maybe it was just her frazzled mind's way of working stuff out.  
"Mention A inside and you'll get to see a demonstration of my swordsmanship." Paige warned and her expression was grave again. "She has eyes and ears everywhere." Paige stepped aside as she held the tavern door open for her, and the soft warm glow coming from inside was enough to tempt Emily inside.

"Tell me about it." Emily huffed. The bar was warm and inviting, with lanterns sitting on the tables and an open fire roaring on the back wall. It was pretty busy, with people milling about by the bar and two waitresses flitting between tables, carrying trays with tankards on them. Paige stepped ahead of Emily and led her to a table at the back, right by the fire. Her hand rested on the hilt of her sword as they walked and it remained there until she pulled a chair out for the other girl. It was typical Paige behaviour, opening doors and pulling out chairs, and Emily was struggling to remember that it was all in her head. Everything felt so _real. _From the hard grain of the wooden table below her fingertips, to the lick of the flames on her face. Paige had taken the seat closest to the fire as it was facing the door. She kept a wary eye on the people around them as a waitress approached their table to take their order.

The waitress, a middle-aged blonde woman with an ample chest that was trying to spill out of her dress, smiled broadly at the two girls, though her eyes flickered over Paige's sword. She wasn't the only one carrying a weapon in the tavern, but she was the only teenage girl carrying a broadsword. "What can I get you?"  
"Two pints of ale please, and a room for the night." Paige pressed a gold coin down on the table and the woman's eyes lit up in delight. Emily wasn't aware of just how much the coin was worth, but she was guessing it was more than enough to cover two drinks and a room from the way the woman started fussing over them.  
"Can I just have water please?" Emily had done enough partying over the summer. The last thing she wanted was more alcohol, even if it was only in her head.

The barmaid shot her a confused look, like she'd just asked to be handed a glass full of sand, but shrugged as she took the order and went off to the bar. "You're really not from around here, are you?" Paige scrutinised her like she was a particularly difficult puzzle that needed to be solved. Emily didn't get a chance to answer as the barmaid returned. She placed two tankards of ale on the table, and Emily was about to object, when she put her water down in front of her. At least Emily guessed it was supposed to be water. The thick brown sludge looked more like something she would have expected to find in the poorer villages of Haiti. Catching her staring at the water the barmaid shook her head slowly.

"It's been like that ever since the Goddess was killed in the river. Supplies all the water in the woods does that river! Of course it can't be fixed, all the holy men have tried, but you kill a god and that's what you get!" The woman's voice had taken on a hushed tone, but Emily had no idea what she was talking about. She looked over to Paige to fill her in.  
"The goddess of the water, she was killed by _you-know-who_ in the river that runs through the woods."  
"Crying shame if you ask me! Poor woman dying for her lover like that! She was a barmaid just like me you know, up in Radley town-"  
"Thanks." Paige pressed another gold coin in to the woman's hand, giving her a less than subtle hint to leave them alone.

"What is she talking about? What goddess?" Emily frowned, unable to follow her own dream. Paige seemed to be her guide of sorts, so she waited for her to explain everything to her as she gripped the glass of brown sludge, looking at the oozing water with disdain.  
"There are four goddesses of the woods. Water, who was killed, Fire, Earth and Air. When the water goddess died in the river she poisoned the water, that's why it looks like that."  
"Wait, how can a god be killed?"  
"She was in human form, it sort of made her a demi-god, and those can be killed…it's best not to talk about it here." Paige looked around the tavern suspiciously, as though she expected A to be hiding behind a chair or under a table. She took the room key that the woman had given her and led Emily upstairs, carrying their ale.

The room was pretty basic, with two rickety wooden chairs in front of an already lit fireplace, a small wardrobe, a sink with a cracked mirror hanging over it and a twin bed. Paige closed and locked the door once they were inside. She didn't want anyone overhearing them talking about A. She needed the element of surprise when taking on the kingdom's most powerful witch. She took a seat by the fireplace and gestured for Emily to join her. "The story goes that the goddess of the water stumbled upon a human girl, lost deep in the heart of the woods. She led the girl back to her town and then returned to the bottom of the great lake where she lived; but a few days later the goddess found the lost girl wandering through the woods again. This kept happening, again and again, until the mortal girl finally admitted she wasn't really lost at all. She just wanted the goddess' attention. She had fallen in love with her-"

"And was the goddess in love with her too?" Emily interrupted like an overactive six year old. Paige laughed at her as she nodded.  
"She was. She loved her so much that she wanted to live a mortal life with her, to grow old and to die with her lover. The human girl knew of a witch that could bind the goddess to human form-"  
"A?"

"Yes." Paige rolled her eyes at the second interruption. "It was a trick. In order for one goddess to take human form, they would all have to. The goddesses had been guardians of the Rose Woods for centuries. They watched over the kingdom and the succession of the royal family, ensuring that only fair and just rulers inherited the throne; but when they became trapped in human form they lost most of their powers and the kingdom fell to the witch. Once she took the throne she needed more power to keep it, so she tried to steal it from the water goddess; but when she killed her, her powers disappeared. So she tried a different tact with the others. She threatened to kill their human lovers if they didn't relinquish their powers over to her-"

"So they all just gave in to her?" Emily didn't like the sound of what she was hearing. Why had her imagination created a world where Mona won? As bad as things had gotten in the real world, she had never completely given in to A. Sure enough Mona had manipulated her, but in the end she had lost and the girls had come out on top. Emily couldn't understand why her mind was trying to take that one bit of peace away from her.

"Earth and Air did. They found mortal lovers and when A threatened their lives they had no choice but to give in to her; but Fire had no one. There was no man or woman in the kingdom that could match her passion, but she still agreed to go through with the ritual, to be bound to human form for one mortal lifetime so that her sisters could find happiness-"  
"That's so sad! So she was all alone?"

"Yeah and the stories go that her loneliness drove her mad. She refused to believe that Water was gone; after all, her powers had to go somewhere. They say she's wandering around lost somewhere deep in the Rose Woods, completely out of her mind and searching every body of water for her dead sister. I was looking for her when I found you. The fire goddess is the only person strong enough to take on A, but even then she only has the power of one god; A has two."

"Why does this mean so much to you? Taking down A?" Emily quizzed as Paige stood glaring at the fire, her expression grim and determined. It sounded like she was pretty much on a suicide mission, and Emily wanted to know why. Paige had never been involved with A in the real world, so why was Emily projecting her as the hero in her dream?  
"Because it's the right thing to do!" Paige snapped. Her eyes were alive with a mixture of passion and anger. Emily jumped, knocking over her tankard.  
"Crap!" Her clothes had only just dried out and she didn't want them stinking of beer. She rushed over to the sink in the corner of the room and ran the tap. She pulled her t-shirt up over her head and ran it under the water as she turned to look back at Paige. "I didn't mean anything by it. I just meant…I mean…that guy who tried to rob us; he mentioned your sword belonged to one of the King's knights. Were you a knight? Is that why you want to take A down? For killing your King?"

"I'm too young to be a knight." Paige laughed, the tension in the room easing off as her anger passed. Sadness quickly replaced it. "She killed my parents. My dad…my dad was a knight. It was his sword, and that's why I'm going to use it to kill her. To get justice for him."  
"Paige I'm so sorry…"  
"I don't need pity Emily. What I need is _revenge." _  
"It won't bring them back." Emily mused as she turned her attention back to her shirt, wringing it out. The water had washed away all traces of the beer. Emily knew what it was like to lose someone, and to fixate on wanting to find out the truth about their deaths; to get justice for them.  
"Neither will washing your shirt in dirty water, but you're still doing it." Paige pointed out as she picked up her own beer.  
"What? It's not dirty it's-" Emily stared down at the water in the basin. It had previously been crystal clear, like the water in the lake that she had woken up in. Now it was brown and murky and the putrid smell was enough to turn her stomach, yet her T-shirt was perfectly clean. "What the…" Against her better judgement she dipped her fingers back in to the water. Slowly the water cleared, like all the bad stuff was dissolving away.

Her hand was wrenched back out of the basin as Paige's fingers wrapped around her wrist. She glared between Emily and the water. "How the hell did you do that?"  
"I…I…" Emily had no explanation. She had no idea what she had done to change the water. Paige wasn't buying it though and she asked her again, her voice coming out in a growl as she drew her sword.  
"How did you do it?"

* * *

Emily sat bolt right up in bed as she slammed her hand down on her alarm clock, silencing its wailing scream. She had slept right through the night after dinner, though she didn't feel any better for it. Sighing, she flopped back down, her eyes closing over of their own accord. She still felt tired, like she'd actually been up all night running through the woods. She didn't get a chance to fall back asleep though as her phone started ringing on her bedside table. "Hello?" She answered groggily, her voice thick with sleep.  
"Hey Superstar, what you up to?" She heard the familiar voice on the other end of the line and her stomach dropped at the memory of Paige pulling a sword on her in her dream.  
"It's 6am, Paige. I'm sleeping." She grumbled in response, annoyed with the other girl; which was ridiculous seeing as she hadn't actually done anything to her, but Emily's wrist was aching and it was a painful reminder of the way Dream Paige had grabbed her. She had obviously slept on it funny and incorporated the pain in to her dream.

"We won't take nationals this year with that attitude, Fields!" She could practically hear the smirk Paige was wearing. "It's really warm out, I was thinking of getting in a practise in my pool before class... You said we should practise sometime soon." She sounded a little less confident as she waited for Emily to respond.  
"It's really early, Paige." She sighed, though she was already pushing back her bedcovers. "Couldn't we practise at a more normal time?"  
"Come on Em. I'll make it worth your while…I'll make you pancakes for breakfast?"  
"How can I refuse an offer like that?" Emily laughed. Her resolve was weakening as she started to wake up properly. Shaking off the last remnants of her dream she finally gave in. "I'll be over in half an hour."


	3. Chapter 3

"Wow, you look like hell." Paige frowned as she answered the front door to Emily and found her resting against the doorframe, her eyes half closed.  
"Thanks, Paige. You really know how to cheer a girl up." Emily rolled her eyes as she followed the other girl inside. After she'd gotten off the phone she'd had a quick shower and thrown some clothes on over her costume before driving to her house. She was grateful when Paige led her in to the kitchen and put on a fresh pot of coffee.  
"I kind of feel bad for waking you now." Paige admitted as she filled a mug and handed one over to Emily, who was perched on a stool by the breakfast bar, her head propped up on one hand. "I tried calling you last night, but you never answered."  
"Sorry I fell asleep after school and then I went straight to bed after dinner." Emily sipped at the coffee, savouring the strong rich flavour. The McCullers' had good coffee.

"And you're still tired?" The other girl scoffed as she picked up her glass of orange juice from the bench. With the new swimming season starting she was trying to cut back on the caffeine. She had only brewed the coffee for Emily's benefit; she looked like she was asleep on her feet.  
"I didn't sleep well. I kept having this dream…" Emily started, but then trailed off as she realised how crazy she would sound if she told Paige about her dream. Not to mention the fact that the other girl seemed to be the star of it. Emily still didn't understand that herself. She didn't need to make things between them any more complicated. They were finally finding their footing as friends again, and Emily didn't want anything to jeopardise that. She loved her friends, but it was nice to have someone outside of everything that had happened with A.

"Are you…are you doing ok?" Paige misunderstood her silence, obviously thinking that Emily had been talking about a nightmare to do with Maya's death. Everyone seemed to think she was one step away from falling apart and she hated it. It reminded her too much of the way A had targeted her as the weakest, the most likely to crack. She was stronger than that, and the idea of Paige thinking otherwise didn't sit too well with her.  
"Other than being ready to kill the next person who asks me that? I'm fine." She replied dryly. "I am starved though. I seem to remember a promise of breakfast?"  
"After practise, you don't want to be swimming on a full stomach!"  
"As long as I _have_ a full stomach after practise." Emily grumbled, pulling her hoodie off over her head as she followed Paige out the back door. It was shaping up to be a warm day, but there was still a chill in the air and Emily was glad to get in to the heated water of the pool. Paige followed her in and they started with a couple of warm up laps.

Once she was in the water Emily started to perk up a bit. She forgot all about her crazy dream and the gentle laps soon turned competitive as she inched ahead of Paige. They started racing without having to say a word about it, each girl pushing themselves to try and get in front of the other. By the time they stopped the muscles in Emily's arms and legs felt like they were on fire. She was breathing heavily as she leant on the side. It had been a long time since she had pushed herself so hard in the water. "I totally had you!" Paige laughed as she pulled herself up out of the pool and held a hand out to help Emily out.  
"By like a second!" Emily scoffed, knowing she wouldn't hear the end of it all day.  
"A second's all it takes, Superstar." Paige shot back with a cocky grin as she wrapped her towel around her. "I'm just going to get changed and then I'll make a start on breakfast. You can use the shower upstairs."

Paige led her to the upstairs bathroom before slipping in to en-suite in her room. She showered to get the chlorine out of her hair and once she had dried off she tied her hair back, letting it dry naturally. They didn't have long before they needed to be at school and she still needed to make Emily the breakfast she had promised her. By the time Emily got back downstairs Paige was just about ready to plate up. "You cook?" Emily smiled as she took a seat at the breakfast bar again and watched the other girl flipping a pancake with ease.  
"I'm a McCullers. I do everything." She winked, making Emily laugh. Her smile widened and lingered as Paige handed over a plate stacked full of fluffy hot pancakes. The smell was mouth-watering and Emily couldn't wait to tuck in. "Ah, ah, wait!" Paige reached in to one of the top cupboards and pulled out a bottle of chocolate sauce, pouring a generous amount over both of their plates. Once she started training again she would have to cut out such indulgences, but it was clear that Emily needed something hot and sweet to pick her up.

"Is this coconut?" Emily asked, almost groaning with pleasure as she took her first bite. "These are really good!"  
"Yes, _everything_ should have coconut it…and you were expecting them not to be good?" Paige almost sounded offended as she tucked in to her own, but Emily caught her playful smile and rolled her eyes at her.  
"I'd have been disappointed if they were anything less than perfect, McCullers." She shot back with a smirk of her own. She sighed as she caught sight of the time though, they would have to be leaving for school soon. She quickly finished what was left on her plate. "They definitely make up for your early morning wakeup call!"  
"I'll remember that the next time I wake you up at 6am."  
"Which will hopefully be _never." _

"Actually I was talking to some of the girls on the team and we were thinking of starting some early morning practises before school. Since we've got a title to defend this year, we're bound to have more scouts turning up to meets. What do you think?"  
"I think you'd better be bringing pancakes." Emily sighed as the thought of how early she would have to get up to make it to the school for practise with the rest of the team. It made her tired just thinking about it.  
"We'll work out some kind of practise to pancake ratio for you." Paige laughed. She was far more of a morning person and was looking forward to the extra practise with the team. "We better get going. I need to give myself plenty of time to ride to school; otherwise my pancakes might be making a repeat performance."

"Forget the bike today. I'll drive you." Emily offered, but Paige tried to decline.  
"It's fine. I'd need my bike to get back anyway-"  
"Paige, I can give you a ride home too. It's not like your house is a million miles out of my way." Emily shook her head at the other girl as she carried on trying to refuse the other. "We have English last period anyway."  
"Only if you're sure. I don't want to put you out." Paige finally started to cave as she slung her bag over her shoulder. After the carb laden breakfast she probably could have done with cycling to school, but the lure of riding to school with Emily was too tempting; especially when it would give her an excuse to see her after school too. Maybe she could suggest another practise session?  
"It's no trouble, besides, if I drive you then I can't go walking in front of your bike again can I?" Emily teased. She had been so distracted that she had almost ended up crashing in to the other girl the day before.  
"There is that." Paige agreed. "Fine, in the interest of your safety I'll let you drive me to school."

Once the pair of them were inside the car, Emily rolled her window halfway down and turned up the volume on the radio. She felt more awake after her swim, but she still didn't feel fully alert. The last thing she wanted was to drive her and Paige straight in to a tree or something, so she took the familiar route to school at a steady pace. It wasn't far from Paige's house anyway and they had plenty of time before registration. As Emily pulled in to a space in the parking lot a song they both liked came on over the radio and they ended up sitting in the parked car until it finished. Hanna pulled it in to the space beside Emily's car and waved at the two girls as she killed the engine. Paige awkwardly waved back at her. She had never really spoken much to any of Emily's friends, other than Hastings and most of those conversations had been short and snappy.

"I'll see you in English, Em." Paige made a hasty retreat before Hanna could get out of her car, leaving Emily and the blonde alone.  
"You and Paige seem to be getting on." Hanna commented, not really meaning anything by it, but Emily was instantly on the defensive.  
"We're just friends. Just because Paige is gay that doesn't mean-"  
"Whoa! Time out Ems, I just meant it's nice to see you two getting along, after all the hassle she was giving you last year over getting anchor and stuff." Emily hadn't told her friends about her and Paige's brief relationship. Paige hadn't been out at the time and Emily hadn't wanted to betray her trust by telling anyone about them. It was one of many secrets that had been building up in her life and Emily was suddenly overwhelmed with the need to unburden herself; but at the same time she didn't want Hanna thinking that there was anything still going on between her and Paige. They had agreed to be friends and Emily had only lost Maya a few short months ago; she felt guilty just thinking about being with anybody else.

"Sorry, Han." She sighed, knowing she had just jumped down her friend's throat. "It's just Maya's only been gone a few months and I don't want people jumping to conclusions about me and Paige; or judging me."  
"Em, no one is judging you, least of all your friends. I think Paige is nice, but if you're telling me there's nothing going on there, then there's nothing going on." Emily bit her lip as she considered the fact that she had spent the last two days dreaming about Paige.  
"We're just friends." She repeated, more for her own benefit than Hanna's.

The school day seemed to drag on and Emily felt like she was sleepwalking by the time the final bell rang. Ms Montgomery gave them all their reading assignments before dismissing them and Emily slowly packed away her things as the rest of the class stampeded towards the door. Paige hung back by her desk, waiting for her. "Hey, I was going to ask if you wanted to come over for another practise, but you look worse than you did this morning."  
"Thanks, Paige."  
"Wait, I didn't mean it like that! You _look_ great, you always do, you just look really tired and…I'm going to shut up now." Paige was flustered as she followed Emily out of the class. "Are you ok to drive?"

"I'm fine." Emily sighed, though she was having trouble finding her car keys inside of her bag. "I just can't find my stupid…keys." Paige reached forward and pulled Emily's keys out of the front pocket of her coat. She had forgotten all about putting them in there when she'd locked the car in the morning, but thankfully Paige had noticed where she'd put them.  
"Seriously Em, are you ok? Because I don't want to feel responsible for you driving off the road or something. Let me drive you home." She held her hand out expectantly for the keys as they reached Emily's car, but the other girl was reluctant to part with them.  
"I'm supposed to be driving you home, remember?"  
"It's a couple of blocks from your house to mine. I'll drop you and your car off home safely and then I'll walk home with a clean conscience knowing my good dead for the day is done." Paige snatched the keys out of her hand and ushered her over to the passenger side door, not giving her any chance to object.

She knew Paige was right though, she didn't feel up to driving back and it would be irresponsible of her to try, so she slipped in to the passenger seat. It felt odd sitting on the other side. She couldn't remember ever having let anybody else drive her car, but she knew she could trust Paige with her precious Toyota. She had been in Paige's mom's car with her a couple of times before and the other teenager drove like her grandma. Without having to worry about driving, or keeping a check on Paige's driving, she let her head rest against the window as her eyes closed over. Her eyelids felt so heavy and she just needed a second to rest them.

"What magic is this?" Paige roared at her and Emily jumped back, startled by her ferocity. She had been sitting in her car a moment ago and she suddenly found herself standing in a rundown room, a roaring fire behind her and Paige and her sword in front of her. She had fallen asleep. She struggled to remember how her dream had ended last. "How did you do that to the water? Are you a witch? Are you working with A? Did she send you-"  
"I'm not anything!" Emily shouted back, her eyes glued to the sword. She really wished Paige would put it down. "I'm not a witch and I'm not magic! I don't know what I did to the water! Can you just put down the damn sword!"

"Who are you?" The other girl's eyes narrowed on Emily as she slowly put the sword back in its scabbard, keeping it within reach in case she needed it. "You just turn up in the middle of the woods, out of nowhere, wearing strange clothes and with knowledge of A, and you just expect me to believe that you're not involved with her?"  
"I'm not with her!" Emily argued. It was a little easier to argue back when she wasn't staring at the business end of a sword. "My name is Emily Fields, and I'm just a girl from Rosewood. A terrorised me and my friends, but we fought back and we won! Now you can believe me or not, but either way you're stuck with me…trust me."

"Trust you with what?" Emily's eyes flickered open as she heard Paige asking her a question. The car lurched to a stop outside of Emily's house and the other girl sat staring at her, waiting for an answer.  
"Uh, nothing… I must have drifted off." Emily brushed her question off. She could hardly tell her that she had been dreaming about her. "Sorry, and thanks for driving me home. I'll drive you tomorrow if you want? To make up for you having to walk home. " Emily offered, feeling terrible about falling asleep for the whole ride back.  
"Thanks, but I'm staying back tomorrow after school. I promised Kate I'd help her with her AP Physics. I took it last year and it's a pretty tough class. Maybe some other time?"  
"Sure." Emily nodded, trying to ignore the tinge of jealousy she felt at the thought of Paige spending time with the other girl. They were just friends. She could go and tutor other girls if she wanted to. It wasn't like Emily had any claim over her. She was the one who had insisted they remain friends in the first place. She'd shot Paige down time after time. She couldn't expect her to hang around waiting for her forever.

"Great." Paige went to hand over Emily's keys, but then pulled them back at the last second. "Actually, I should probably hold on to these. You look like you're about to pass out and I don't want to be worrying about you getting behind the wheel all night. How about I bring them back tomorrow before school, maybe with some pancakes, or some other form of breakfast cake?" Emily had no intentions of driving for the rest of the afternoon or night. In fact the only plans she had involved her climbing in to her bed, but she liked the idea of Paige stopping by in the morning. She bit back a grin as she tried to put on a serious expression and nodded, playing along with the other girl.  
"That's probably for the best…but I owe you breakfast as well as a ride. So swing by about seven?"  
"See you then." Paige grinned back at her as she pocketed her keys.

Emily was still smiling to herself as she walked up to her front door and let herself in. She was glad her mom was in because her house key was on the same loop as her car key; both of which were sitting in Paige's pocket. She hadn't given it a thought until she'd stepped through the front door. She really wasn't with it all. She felt worse for napping in the car and she just wanted to go upstairs and collapse in to her bed. Unfortunately her mom had other plans as she caught her with her foot on the first step. "Hi Hun, how was school? Do you want to come help me with dinner?"

"Sure." Her mom had really been trying over the summer and Emily didn't want to upset her by refusing to help with dinner. She could practically hear her bed calling out to her though as she joined her in the kitchen. They talked about their days, Pam asking the usual questions about school and how her classes were going. Emily tried her best to sound enthusiastic as she answered, but she was yawning through practically every other answer.  
"How much sleep did you get last night? You look asleep on your feet." Pam frowned as she watched Emily try to cover up yet another yawn behind her hand as she tossed the salad.  
"I went to bed straight after dinner. I don't know why I'm so tired. Maybe it's delayed jetlag or something." She shrugged, not wanting to make a big deal out of it.

"Did you drive home like that? You should have called, I would have picked you up-"  
"Mom, it's fine. I didn't drive. Paige saw that I wasn't feeling well so she drove my car back for me."  
"Really? Well that was nice of her; you should have invited her over for dinner."  
"She's coming over for breakfast tomorrow and I'm giving her a ride to school."  
"Was that where you were so early this morning? With Paige?" Pam tried to sound casual, but Emily could hear the hidden question in her words. She let out a heavy sigh as she slumped against the kitchen counter.  
"Mom, there's nothing going on with me and Paige. We're just friends." _Just friends. _The words were quickly becoming some kind of personal motto to her.

"Ok, ok!" Pam held her hands up in mock surrender. "It's just nice to see you spending time with friends. I'll make some bran muffins for the two of you in the morning-"  
"You don't need to-"  
"Nonsense. Paige got my baby home safe, the least she deserves is a little breakfast treat."  
"More like a medal." Emily muttered under her breath. The other girl deserved a lot more than a muffin for putting up with her. Even after everything that had happened between them, Paige was still looking out for her. She was a good friend and she deserved better. "Actually, I'll help. Do we have any coconut?"


	4. Chapter 4

Emily woke up to the sound of her alarm clock and realised she had slept through the night without once dreaming about Paige or the Rose Woods. She felt a little disappointed as she pulled herself out of bed. She had really been getting in to the world that her mind had created and she had been looking forward to going back there when she had climbed in to bed the night before. At least she felt like she had actually slept though, which was something. She didn't feel quite as tired as she had the day before.

Knowing Paige would be due over soon, she had a shower and got dressed. She was just pulling her hair up as she heard a knock at the door. As quickly as she ran down the stairs to answer it she wasn't fast enough. Pam got to the door before her, as though she'd been perched by it all morning, just waiting for the other girl to turn up. "Good morning, Paige. It's nice to see you again, how are your folks?" She beamed at her daughter's friend as she stepped aside to let her in. Paige looked fresh faced and her hair was wet, suggesting she'd already been in the pool. Emily wasn't sure how she could get up so early and still function.  
"Good morning, Mrs Fields. They're fine thanks. Hi, Em." She replied politely as she stepped inside and nodded towards Emily. Her smile was a little more natural as she turned it on Emily.  
"Hey, Paige. You hungry?"  
"Starved. I did like twenty laps this morning."  
"Great, mom went overboard on the muffins. You might have to take a few for lunch too." Emily laughed as she led the other girl in to the kitchen.

"Muffins?" Paige grinned eagerly as she followed her and took a seat at the kitchen table. Emily joined her with a plate of the muffins she and her mom had made the night before.  
"There's blueberry ones and coconut. We really did make too many, so eat what you can and feel free to take some with you."  
"Is that your plan to hold on to anchor this season? Fatten me up so I sink to the bottom of the pool?" Paige teased as she helped herself to one of the coconut muffins.  
"Please, like you'd ever put on weight. Between swimming and running you never sit still!"  
"I took up yoga over the summer, that sometimes involves sitting." She was actually being serious and Emily couldn't help but laugh as she rolled her eyes at her. The girl never stopped.

"I think it's good to keep active. You could do with beefing your training up a little bit more, Emmy." Wayne smiled at the two girls as he walked in carrying his morning paper.  
"Emmy?" Paige mouthed at her and Emily felt her cheeks going red at the nickname. She kicked at Paige under the table, though it hardly hurt seeing as she was only wearing socks on her feet. Paige bit back a laugh and carried on eating.  
"Actually the team are organising some extra practises this season. It was Paige's idea." Emily replied matter-of-factly. She knew her dad was right about her training though. She'd have to do a lot more than she had been doing over the summer if she wanted to impress any scouts who turned up to their meets.

Wayne nodded, impressed by Paige's leadership. "Good to hear you're keeping those girls straight, Paige." The two teens almost choked at Mr Fields' choice of words and Emily felt her blush spreading as she glared at her parents. They could be so embarrassing sometimes.  
"Let's leave the girls to have their breakfast in peace." Pam covered for her husband as she tugged him towards the door, shooting Paige an almost apologetic look.  
"Sorry about that." Emily apologised once they were alone. She felt like the colour would never leave her cheeks after both of her parents embarrassing her.  
"No problem…Emmy."  
"Don't you dare!" Emily objected, mortified at having Paige use her dad's pet name for her. "Only my dad calls me that! I'm sure your dad has some humiliating nickname for you too!"  
"He does." Paige agreed with a mouth full of muffin. "But you'll never find out what it is!"  
"Sounds like a challenge, McCullers!"  
"Oh, believe me Fields, you will _never _find out."  
"Does your dad like muffins?" Emily teased, hoping Nick McCullers could be bribed in to giving her the information she needed.

"He's training for a half marathon, so carbs won't get you anywhere with him." Paige informed her smugly. "And my diet for training starts next week, so I'd make the most of being able to bribe me with food while you can."  
"I intend to." Emily grinned as she cleaned up their plates. "Do you think we could fit in some more training sessions to help me get back in shape before the season starts."  
"Of course." Paige agreed, glad that Emily had given her an excuse to see her without Paige having to think up something herself; like taking the other girl's keys off her. "Oh, here." Remembering that she still had Emily's car keys she fished them out of her backpack and handed them over.

The drive to the school was a short one and Paige found herself wishing that Emily lived further from the school so they could have spent more time together. Breakfast with the Fields had been nice and she didn't want to give up spending time with Emily so soon. She spotted Hanna by the front door though and she knew her time with Emily was up. She had her little circle of close friends and Paige had no chance of breaking in to it. Those girls had too much between them to let outsiders in to their little group. She climbed out of Emily's Toyota, expecting to have to say goodbye as she hefted her backpack over her shoulder. "Do you want to come grab a coffee? It's still early." Emily added a little sheepishly as she locked her car. Paige was momentarily stunned at the invite and Emily took her silence as apprehension. "You don't have to if you've got stuff to do-"  
"No! I mean yes. Yes, I'd love some coffee and no, I don't have any plans."

She followed Emily over to where Hanna and Caleb were waiting by the door. "Hi, Paige." Hanna greeted her pleasantly enough and Caleb gave her a nod of his head, his attention glued to the handheld gaming device he was holding. "Caleb!" The blonde frowned as she snatched the game out of his hands, forcing him to acknowledge the other two girls properly.  
"Han!" He whined like a five year old being denied candy as he tried in vain to get the game back. "I'll put it away once I finish this level, I promise! I just need to…" He trailed off as Hanna finally located the power button and switched it off.  
"Is that Castle Raiders 4?" Paige quizzed, catching sight of the game in the back. Caleb looked surprised that she knew it but nodded.  
"I've been stuck on level fourteen for days-"  
"Did you find the hidden passage behind the fireplace? You just move that candlestick on the right-"  
"Oh god." Hanna rolled her eyes as she handed Caleb the game back and linked an arm through Emily's, giving up on her boyfriend altogether.

The four of them got their coffees and took a seat at one of the tables in the outside courtyard. Paige stuck to decaf, trying to stick to her no caffeine rule as she helped Caleb get passed the bit he was stuck on in the game. After a while Spencer joined them. "Hey guys…Paige." She looked a little confused to see Emily's team mate at their table, but she didn't make a big deal out of it as she took a seat on the other side of Emily.  
"Hey." Paige replied, making an attempt to play nice with Hastings. There had never exactly been much love lost between them, but if she was going to get to spend more time with Emily she'd have to get Spencer on her side. "You got practise today?" She nodded towards Spencer's hockey stick leaning against the table.

"Uh, yeah. Are you thinking about joining the team again?" Spencer asked, making an effort with Paige for Emily's sake. She seemed happier than she had seen her in a long time as she smiled at Paige's attempt at making an effort with her friends.  
"No, I think swimming's definitely my sport."  
"I'm sure it has its appeal." Hanna smirked over the rim of her coffee cup and Paige got the feeling she saw right through her. She didn't know how much Emily's friends knew about their history, but from the way she was smiling at her the blonde definitely knew _something.  
_ "It does." Paige agreed, biting back a smile as she went back to helping Caleb with his game. At least it seemed she already had at least one of Emily's friends on her side.

"Maybe you're just part fish, like me?" Emily teased, throwing Paige's words from the other day back at her.  
"Please Fields, I'm _all_ Shark." Paige shot back at her, her wit as sharp as ever despite the early hour. Emily rolled her eyes at her as she chuckled in to her coffee. Beside her, Spencer sat silently watching the two swimmers. She hadn't seen Emily so at ease in months. She didn't say anything to her in front of the others, but she'd make sure to pull her friend aside and find out if anything was going on. After all, Emily was still hurting from Maya and Spencer didn't want to see her rushing in to anything until she was ready.

They had first period together so Spencer was able to catch Emily alone on their way to class once they'd said goodbye to the others. "So you and Paige-"  
"Are just friends." Emily cut her off with a scowl before she could get another word out. She was sick of everyone jumping to conclusions about them. She would understand if people actually knew they had history, but Emily hadn't told her friends or her parents at the time. Paige hadn't been ready to come out and telling anyone about the two of them had seemed like it would be a betrayal. As far as people knew they were just two girls who happened to swim for the same team; both literally and figuratively.  
"And I'm not the first to ask?" Spencer mused, not put off by the other girl's outburst.  
"My mom's practically marrying us off." Emily sighed as she slipped in to her seat and Spencer took the desk beside her. "And she's not exactly subtle about it, which just makes things even more awkward between us…"  
"But you're just friends, right?" Spencer's expression was sceptical. She would have been willing to put money on Paige being attracted to Emily, but she hadn't considered that Emily would be interested right back. "I mean I'm sure Paige is nice and all, once you get past the scathing sarcasm and the attitude problem, but it hasn't been that long since…well, I don't think a rebound is a good idea for you right now-"

"I think I probably know what's best forme, Spencer." Emily snapped, some of her own attitude surfacing. "And as for Paige, you don't know the _first _thing about her."  
"And you do?" Spencer didn't mean to argue with her friend. She understood she was still in a bad place and she needed her friends to be supportive, but something about McCullers had always rubbed her the wrong way and she didn't want to see Emily get hurt by rushing in to something; unfortunately Emily wasn't about to back down either.  
"Yeah, I do! More than you think!"

Spencer's eyes narrowed as she digested Emily's words and she watched a mixture of regret and relief flitter across the other girl's expression. It took the self-proclaimed genius less than a second to put everything together. "Just how _well_ do you know her, Em?" Emily ducked her head sheepishly as avoided Spencer's piercing gaze.  
"Pretty well." She admitted, suddenly glad the classroom was relatively empty and she didn't need to worry about being overhead. At least with Mona locked up in Radley Sanatorium she didn't need to worry about 'A' targeting her, or worse going after Paige; well, at least not while she was awake anyway. "I was the first one Paige confided in about being gay. When she was acting out about me joining the team again…well, it wasn't really about me taking anchor from her."  
"She had a crush on you?" Spencer did her best to keep her tone neutral; though she was a little hurt that Emily hadn't felt she'd been able to tell her about Paige's interest earlier.  
"She kissed me in my car after a meet and it all suddenly kind of made sense." Until Paige had kissed her she'd been unable to work out why she'd had such a grudge against her. That kiss had opened her eyes to a lot. "She freaked out afterwards and tried to avoid me, but eventually we had a sort of date." She couldn't bite back her smile as she thought of Paige pulling her up to sing in a bar full of strangers. It had been a memorable first date.

"So what happened?" Spencer was genuinely interested in why the two of them hadn't worked out; as much as she hated to admit it she could see the pair being a good fit. She had been wary of Emily getting in to some kind of rebound with her teammate, but if there'd already been something between them then maybe being with Paige would be good for her.  
"She wasn't ready to be out and I wasn't prepared to hide anymore. I called it off…then there was Samara, and by the time Paige was ready to be out, Maya was back." Emily sighed. Paige's timing couldn't exactly have been any worse.  
"And now?"

"I can't deny there's not something still there between us, but I just…I'm not ready to be with someone like that again. I don't want to hurt Paige by stringing her along…I can't ask her to wait for me when I don't know if I'll ever be ready." Emily felt her eyes tearing up and she hated herself for how easily she had fallen apart in the middle of school. She wasn't weak anymore, not after A's merciless bullying, yet she was once again going to pieces. Spencer slipped an arm around her shoulders and squeezed her tight, trying to comfort her friend.  
"I don't think you have to ask her to wait, Em." She sounded confident in what she was saying, but Emily wasn't so sure. She couldn't see Paige waiting for her forever.

By the time last period rolled around Emily's mood hadn't lifted much. She felt tired and run down again and wanted nothing more than to go home and curl up in bed. Since she still had English to get through she had to settle for resting her head down on her arms on top of her desk. She was the only one in the classroom since her last class had gotten out early, so she let her eyes drift shut for a moment. "Emily?" She heard Paige's voice like a distant echo down a long tunnel as she struggled to open her eyes. She crinkled her nose at the smell of damp and the odour of burning catching at the back of her throat; neither smell belonged in a classroom. "Fields!" She jumped at the sound of Paige's voice, suddenly closer to her ear. When Emily's eyes opened she found the other girl sitting on the desk in front of her, her boots perched on the seat as she grinned down at her fellow shark. "Serious Em, did you actually sleep this summer?"  
"Not much." She admitted sheepishly as she stretched and rubbed at her neck. "Guess I'm just trying to catch up."

"Well get plenty of rest before Saturday! The team are meeting up for a practise and it's up to us to show the juniors how it's done! Kate knows a couple of freshmen who are thinking of trying out so they're going to come along too. We need to build a really strong team this year if we're going to take nationals again!"  
"It's September." Emily rolled her eyes, though she had to admit Paige's drive to win had helped them secure Nationals the season before. She had helped to keep all of the girls pushing themselves to beat their times and her competitiveness had helped Emily improve her own times by trying to keep up with her.

"Exactly!" The other girl laughed as she slipped off the desk and took the seat on Emily's left. The class was starting to fill up and they didn't get another chance to talk as Mrs Montgomery walked in and began going over the lesson aims.  
It was only as they were packing up to leave that Emily managed to catch Paige's attention again. "Hey, do you want a ride home?"  
"Actually I'm meeting up with Kate to study… I think I mentioned it?" The other girl looked a little awkward as she slung her bag over her shoulder. It wasn't like she answered to Emily, but she felt bad for turning down her offer of a ride.  
"Oh, yeah, you did. Sorry… Well enjoy your study date." Emily almost kicked herself at her slip of the tongue, but luckily Paige just laughed it off as she followed her out of the classroom.  
"It's not a _date." _

"Paige! Over here!" Kate beamed as she waved from down the hall, where she was standing with a few of the other girls from the team. Emily wondered if Kate knew it _wasn't _a date. Paige returned the wave a little less enthusiastically before turning back to Emily.  
"I'll see you later. Drive safe, yeah?"  
"You bet." Emily forced a smile as she said goodbye and then watched Paige walk away. She felt her stomach tying itself in knots as she remembered what she'd said to Spencer earlier. She couldn't ask Paige to wait for her to be ready, and she couldn't expect her to wait on her forever. She deserved to be happy; even if it left Emily feeling cold and empty as she watched Paige's hand find the small of Kate's back.

* * *

"Emily? Emily, it's time to wake up." Emily heard Paige calling her name and felt her shaking her shoulder softly. She grumbled as she pushed her hand away and turned over, burying her face in the pillow. Something wasn't right though; aside from Paige being in her room to wake her up in the first place. The pillow was hard and lumpy and as Emily inhaled she caught a whiff of damp.

Her eyes cracked open and she found herself looking at the smouldering embers of a dying fire in the hearth; which at least explained the lingering smell of burning in the room. She was lying on a bed with a mattress filled with Straw and the heavy wool blanket draped over her was itchy against her bare arms. She was dreaming again. It took her a moment to realise it as she sat up and took in the room around her. Everything felt so _real._

She hadn't expected to wake up and find herself back in the tavern with Paige, since she hadn't had the dream the previous night, and it took her a while to get her bearings. Waking up inside of a dream was a strange sensation. She was so preoccupied that she missed what Paige was saying to her. "Huh?"  
"I said hurry up, it's going to be light out soon and we need to get on the road." Paige frowned as she tossed her cloak at the other girl. She was going to have to do something about Emily's appearance before she got them the wrong kind of attention.

"Where are we going?" Emily kicked off the scratchy blanket and wrapped the cloak around her shoulders. The thick material was soft and warm.  
"We need to keep moving and I need answers about what you did to that water."  
"I told you I don't know how I did what I did!" Emily protested as Paige glared at her like she was hiding something.  
"It's a good job I know someone who might then, isn't it? Now come on, we've got a lot of ground to cover." Paige was already standing holding the door open for her by the time Emily managed to climb off the bed. She slipped her feet in to her sneakers and pulled the hood of the cloak up over her head before trudging out of the door.

The pair of them made their way down the rickety wooden stairs and Paige headed straight for the backdoor of the tavern. She had her fingers wrapped around the door handle when the barmaid from the previous night appeared in the open doorway that led in to the main bar. "Good morning ladies. I trust you had a pleasant night-"  
"We were never here." Paige pressed a gold coin in to the woman's hand with a cold hard stare. The barmaid pocketed it and turned her back on them without another word, as though the gold had rendered them invisible.

"You take this cloak and dagger stuff pretty seriously, don't you?" Emily commented as she watched Paige do a visual sweep of the area in front of the tavern before slipping out of the door to head over to her horse. Thunder was still tied up by the water trough and he lazily lifted his head to acknowledge his master as Paige ran a hand through his thick dark mane.  
"It's what's kept me alive this long. People who oppose the witch don't tend to carry on living for long." She replied with a shrug and tossed her bags over Thunder's saddle. "I stay off the radar and I keep moving."  
"Sounds lonely."  
"Actually it's kind of nice…peaceful, even." Paige's voice was cold as she glared at Emily and it was clear she wasn't happy about having a travelling companion. She needed Emily to take down A though, so she would have to put up with the strange girl for a little longer.

Emily took the hint and kept quiet as she climbed up on to the horse's back. She had to wrap her arms around Paige's waist again, to keep from falling off and it made the silence between them even more awkward; at least for Emily anyway. When she'd thought about spending time with Paige after school, she hadn't considered it would involve riding a horse through the woods. "Where exactly are we going?" Emily asked some time later. They'd been riding for what seemed like hours and the sun had finally pulled itself up in to the sky. Emily was bored. She wasn't sure how it was possible to be bored in a dream, but she was. Paige hadn't said a word to her since they'd left the last town.

She heard the other girl sigh before answering her. "We're heading deep in to the forest. I know a man who knows a little about a lot. He should be able to help us figure out what's going on with you and maybe even tell us where the Fire goddess is… and if he can't, well his wife should be able to."  
"How would his wife know where to find a goddess?" Emily quizzed, eager to keep the other girl talking to her. After hours of the silent treatment she would take whatever conversation she could get.  
"She'd know because, before she married a human man, she was a goddess herself. The Earth goddess to be exact…damn it." She trailed off as she caught sight of people up head of them. She had kept off the main roads to avoid being seen and so they were travelling along a small stream; though the water was more like a thick brown sludge.

"What are they doing?" Emily frowned at the three figures bent down by the stream. It was a man and a woman dressed in little more than rags, they had a small child with them; a little girl with fair hair and wide blue eyes. She was dipping a water canteen in to the sludge. They were actually intending to drink from the stream! "Stop!" Emily shouted as she scrambled down from the horse before Paige could stop her.  
"Emily!" Paige growled, furious as the other girl ran off towards the strangers. The girl had no concept of just how dangerous the Rose Woods could be. She jumped down from Thunder, her hand already going for her sword as Emily reached the group.

The man and woman looked apprehensively at Emily, unsure of what to make of her. She pulled down the hood of her cloak, so as to appear less intimidating as she bent down and offered the little girl a timid smile. "You shouldn't drink that." She warned, reaching out for the canteen. The blonde girl went to hand it over, but her father caught her wrist, his eyes wide with fear as he stared down at the stranger that had accosted them. "Please?" Emily begged. She could only imagine how sick the girl would get from drinking such dirty water. To her surprise the man released his daughter's wrist and took a wary step back. She understood why when she looked over her shoulder and found Paige standing there with her sword drawn from its scabbard.

She frowned but took the canteen anyway. She hadn't intended to scare the family. She just wanted to help. Tipping out the brown murky water from the canteen, she submerged it back in the stream, holding it under the water. The family gasped as they watched the water slowly clear, the thick sludge disappearing before their eyes until the whole stream ran with flesh clean water. Emily waited until the canteen was full before pulling it back out and putting the stopper on it. The second her hand left the water it returned to its polluted state. Paige watched in silent awe as Emily handed the canteen over to the little girl with a genuine smile. "Our secret, ok?" She turned her attention from the child to her parents, who nodded in agreement, both equally as dumbstruck as Paige by the other girl's actions. The little girl seemed to be the only one capable of doing anything and so she flung her arms around Emily's neck in thanks.

Paige waited until the family had walked out of sight before putting her sword away. She was wary of everyone and constantly overcautious; but, as she'd told Emily, it kept her alive. "That was pretty stupid." She grumbled as Emily got back to her feet. "I told you these woods are dangerous. You can't trust anyone."  
"And I told you to trust me." Emily challenged. She was getting pretty sick of Paige looking at her like she was the enemy. They were both on the same side and they wanted the same thing, to take down A once and for all; even if it was all just in Emily's mind, she needed Paige to be on her side.

"I _shouldn't_ trust you. You show up out of nowhere and offer to help me take down A…you're just too good to be true." Emily wanted to point out that she hadn't exactly volunteered to help Paige in her quest to take on A, but she held her tongue. "You're this…this _good_ person. I can see it in your eyes… and I just can't help but_ want_ to believe in you."  
"Then what's stopping you?" Emily challenged and Paige couldn't look her in the eye as she ducked her head.  
"Good things just don't happen to me… Not anymore."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry for the wait for this chapter! I spent last month focusing on finishing off my other Paily fic 'Cold Front' as well as a couple of fics for other fandoms. I've got a pretty good idea where I'm taking this fic though and should hopefully be updating regularly. As ever, thanks for reading and for the encouraging feedback.  
**

"How much further is it?" Emily asked for what seemed like the hundredth time as she and Paige made their way through the dense undergrowth of the forest, riding on Thunder's back. They had been riding for two days straight, spending the night in another tavern in another little town. Of course it hadn't been so straight forward for Emily, who kept waking up from her dream and living her real life in between. The two day journey through the woods had actually taken a week for her and she was growing impatient with the lack of progress.  
"Not far." Dream Paige grumbled the same answer she'd given Emily earlier in the week, though to her it had only been a few hours ago.

It had been a long time since the orphan had experience any kind of companionship and she wasn't used to having someone constantly around her. As such she had been pretty quiet during the trip and Emily found herself struggling to draw her in to conversation. Back in the real world she didn't have the same kind of problem, she and Paige seemed to be spending more and more time together, be it in the pool or in the cafeteria at lunch. Paige had really hit it off with Hanna and Caleb, and even Spencer was doing her best to be nice, meaning Paige spent most of her lunchtimes with Emily and her friends. It was nice to have the other girl around as a friend; which was exactly what she needed. The Paige in her dream was a little frostier with her though. She'd barely said two words since Emily had purified the water for the travellers on the road.

"So who is this friend of yours and how will he know how I did that thing with the water?" Emily quizzed, trying to get the other girl to talk to her. She wasn't really big on small talk and it took Emily asking her direct questions to start any kind of conversation.  
"Because he knows a little about a lot." Paige shrugged, still not really offering a real answer. Emily was growing pretty tired of all the mysterious crap. She didn't know why she kept having the same dream, or why it picked up exactly where it left off, but she felt like she was meant to help Paige take down 'A'. She couldn't do that if the Paige wouldn't let her in. She needed to get her to open up to her; for the sake of her own sanity. "I was going to see him about the Fire Goddess anyway. I'm hoping he might know something about what you are."  
"I told you I'm-"  
"Just a girl from Rosewood, I know." Paige's voice was dripping with sarcasm and Emily found herself wishing the other girl would go back to being silent; or that she could just wake up.

Emily fallen asleep Friday night, knowing that when her alarm went off in the morning she would be getting up to get ready to meet the rest of the Sharks at the public pool. They were having their first pre-season practise ahead of the coach holding try-outs for new swimmers. Paige had arranged it all, and had invited the girls to her house in the evening for a team movie night. Emily suspected she was pushing for captain again. The other girl would definitely get her vote. Paige was a leader, and she had proven the previous season that she could rally the rest of the team in to getting results.

"I've never met any girl like you." Paige carried on, though her words were far from a compliment. "Your clothes are strange, you have no idea about the goddesses or the history of the woods and you can cleanse tainted water with just your hands...most girls can't do that."  
"Well I guess I'm not most girls!" Emily snapped back.  
"No. You're not." Paige agreed, her voice taking on a softer tone. Though she muttered it quietly under her breath Emily still heard her. A small smile touched her lips and she had to hide it behind Paige's back.

The other girl let out a heavy sigh as she pulled on Thunder's reigns, bringing him to an abrupt stop. Emily lurched forward, her hands finding Paige's hips to steady herself. "If you want me to be honest with you, then be honest with me. How did you change the water?" Paige looked back over her shoulder at the strange girl, demanding some answers of her own.  
"I don't know. Maybe because this is all in my head and I can do whatever I want?" Emily gave her an honest answer, but Paige took it as sarcasm. Shaking her head she turned back around and urged Thunder on, going back to silently ignoring her new travelling companion.

After a while the trees around them began to thin out, until they eventually reached a clearing that lead out on to a small meadow. There was a stream in the distance, though its waters looked as murky as the water that ran from the taps in the tavern. There was a thatched cottage in the centre of the meadow; with flower baskets hanging from the windows and what looked to be a vegetable garden out front. Paige steadied the horse before climbing down and handing over the reins to Emily. Her eyes windows scanned the tall grass leading up to the cottage as her hand went to her sword. "Something's wro-" She was cut off as something dived out of the grass towards them with a shrill wail.

"Paige!" Emily screamed as she caught the glint of an axe, though the other girl didn't need any warning. She'd already drawn her sword, and rather than take on a defensive position she lunged forward, knocking straight in to the chest of their would-be-attacker. They both fell to the ground, tussling in the dirt. Paige grunted as she caught a punch straight on her jaw, but she threw one straight back, adding a thrust of her knee for good measure. Emily jumped down from the horse, landing beside the sword that Paige had managed to drop.

"Get off of her!" Emily screamed as her fingers scrambled to wrap around the handle, but she struggled to lift the heavy weight. Her scream was enough to distract the man who had jumped Paige though and the other girl used it to her advanage as she landed a head-butt. The man groaned in agony as he rolled to the side and clutched at his nose. The hood of his long black cloak fell back revealing his face and both girls exclaimed at the same time.  
"Ezra!"  
"Mr Fitz!"

"Paige?" Ezra frowned as he got back to his feet and dusted off his breeches. His frown deepened as his eyes landed on Emily. "You…" He his eyes grew wide as though he were looking at a ghost and his mouth opened and closed without a sound escaping from his lips. He dropped to his knees, bowing his head down so low that his swollen nose almost scraped the dirt. Paige watched in silence, as surprised by his reaction as her companion.  
"Mr Fitz? What are you doing?" Emily dropped the sword, letting it fall to the grass. Paige winced, hastily picking up her prize possession like a mother cradling a fallen child.  
"What is it Ezra? What is she?"  
"She's…she's…" The teacher stumbled over his words, unable to believe what he was seeing. Luckily there was someone else there to answer Paige's question for her. A small figure emerged from the cottage, her eyes narrowing on the two newcomers before going wide with shock.  
"She's my sister!"

* * *

Emily woke with a start, but it wasn't because her alarm clock was screeching at her. She still had over an hour before it was set to go off. Instead it was her phone that was screaming out for her attention on the bedside table. "H-hello?" She mumbled in to her cell phone, barely suppressing a yawn.  
"Hey… damn it; did I wake you up again?" A slow smile spread over Emily's lips as she heard Paige cursing herself on the other end of the line.  
"You're like my own personal alarm clock." She chuckled softly down the phone. A quick glance at the clock told her it was barely after seven and she bit back a groan. She'd slept through the night after dinner and still felt like she'd barely had any sleep at all. "So what's up?"  
"Well, Sleeping Beauty, I thought you might want to come for a run with me? You did say you wanted to do more training…" She heard the hesitation in the other girl's voice and decided to put her out of her misery.  
"I'd love to. Just, give me an hour to get ready?"

"An hour, Fields? We're going running, not taking a trip to the mall. I'll meet you at the Brew in the thirty minutes." Paige laughed, some of her usual confidence returning as the other girl agreed to be there on time. Emily hung up and flopped back down on to her bed. She closed her eyes over, intending to get a few more minutes of rest. Her mind was reeling from waking up so suddenly. She found she often felt like that when she'd been dreaming about Paige and the Rose Woods. It was disconcerting to wake up and remember that what had seemed so real only moments ago was in fact a fantasy. She didn't have the dream every time she fell asleep, but as she lay with her eyes closed she wished she could go back. She was haunted by the image of Aria standing in a meadow full of flowers, her hand on Ezra's shoulder as she looked Emily in the eye and declared she was her sister. She wasn't sure what it all meant. Her mind was playing out some kind of puzzle in her head, but she just couldn't get the pieces to fit together. She didn't know why she was doing it to herself. 'A' was gone. She was locked up in an asylum where she couldn't do anything to hurt Emily or people she loved. She didn't get why she couldn't just let it go. Why she kept going back night after night.

She pushed herself up out of bed and crossed over to her closet to find some clothes to go running in. There was no point in showering before a run, so she just tied her hair back in a messy ponytail and pulled on some leggings and a vest. It was still pretty cool outside so she put on a hoodie too. By the time she'd laced up her running shoes she only had ten minutes to get to The Brew. She almost crashed in her to dad at the bottom of the stairs. "Whoa there kiddo, where's the fire?"  
"Sorry dad. I'm meeting Paige at The Brew for a run in like five minutes."  
"I'm headed in to town to run some errands if you want a ride?" The older Fields offered and Emily gratefully accepted the offer as she followed him out to his car. The trip to the coffee shop would only take a few minutes in the car and it would save Emily from being late.

"How is everything?" Wayne asked with a fatherly smile as Emily buckled up her seatbelt. The offer of a ride suddenly felt like an ambush as he started the car. "School going ok?"  
"It's fine Dad. Everything's fine." Emily wore a tight smile, not really in the mood to play twenty questions with her dad. "School's fine and the swimming season starts again soon which is-"  
"Fine?" Wayne offered with a smirk. Emily ducked her head, realising she was being flippant and he was calling her out on it.  
"Sorry. I just…I'm tired of people asking me if I'm ok. I'm not going to fall apart."  
"I know that." Wayne parked the car outside the coffee shop and leant over to press a kiss to his daughter's forehead. "But I'm your father, and it's my job to keep asking."  
"Thanks Dad, and thanks for the ride." She gave him a quick hug before climbing out of the car. Paige was already waiting outside The Brew for her.

"Hey, good timing. I thought I was going to be waiting at least another hour for you to show up." The other girl teased as she handed over one of the coffee cups she was holding. Emily took a sip, deciding not to comment on the fact that Paige had got her order right, right down to the cinnamon and a half a sugar.  
"I'll have you know it takes time to look this good!" Emily smirked, meaning it as a joke.  
"I'll bet." She caught Paige looking her up and down out of the corner of her eye and she took another drink of her coffee, pretending she hadn't noticed.  
"So where are we headed?" She swiftly changed the subject as she fell in to step with the other girl, letting her lead. She almost tripped over her own feet when Paige answered her.  
"Just one of the trails through the woods….Are you ok? You look a little pale."

Emily nodded, trying not to think about the fact that she dreamt about Paige most nights. She had grown used to trailing through the woods with the other girl, albeit in her sleep, but it felt strange to be heading in to them whilst she was awake. Paige led the way, setting an easy pace for Emily to keep up with. Once they got deeper on the trail she upped her game, going from a lightly jogging to running. Emily did her best to keep up, but while she had the advantage in the pool, Paige was definitely the runner between them. "Try to keep up, Emsy!" She laughed over her shoulder as the distance between them started to grow. The teasing was enough to get Emily to pick up the pace as she pushed herself to catch up to Paige.

She wasn't used to the trail like the other girl was though and her ankle twisted as her foot landed heavily on a tree root. She went down hard, her hands flying out to break her fall. "Damn it!"  
"Em! Are you ok?" Paige fell back and dropped down beside her fellow Shark, her hands going straight to Emily's ankle to check nothing was broken.  
"It's fine. I think I just twisted it." She frowned as she realised it was the same ankle that she had twisted the first time she'd dreamt about the Rose Woods. Unfortunately Paige didn't have a horse hanging around nearby to help her make it back home. Emily had to lean against her friend as she got back on to her feet and Paige wrapped an arm around her waist to help support her weight. They hadn't made it all that far in to the woods, but with Emily limping it took them a while to make it back out.

They reached the park that sat on the edge of the woods and Paige helped Emily ease down on to a bench. "I think you should probably stick to the water, Fields." She offered the other girl a lopsided smile as she sat down on the grass in front of her. "Do you think you can make it back, or do you want me to call your dad or something?"  
"I've got it, thanks." Emily reassured her, pulling out her phone and sending Spencer an SOS text. She was the only one of her friends who would be up so early on a Saturday. Sure enough Spencer got straight back to her, asking where she was. "I'm not sure I'll make it to the pool later." Emily frowned. She had been looking forward to getting back in the water with Paige and the rest of the team, but her ankle was already swelling up.  
"That sucks. You should keep it elevated and put some ice on it, and then maybe you could still make it?" Paige offered hopefully.  
"Yeah, maybe. I'll give you a call." Emily promised as she spotted Spencer's car pulling up in the parking lot. Paige spotted it too and wrapped her arm back around Emily's waist to help her get over to the car.

"Trying to take out the competition before the season even starts, McCullers?" Spencer quipped, though her tone wasn't quite as hostile as it usually was when she was addressing the other girl. Paige took the teasing in her stride as she reluctantly removed her arm from Emily's waist. She instantly missed the contact, bitterly remembering a time when Emily had been hers to touch and to kiss pretty much when she wanted; at least when they weren't out in public.

"You know me, Hastings." She shrugged with a smirk, not letting the jibe bother her. "Take it easy Em, and remember to get some ice on that ankle, and keep it up and-"  
"Yes doctor." Emily laughed before giving her a brief hug through the open car window. She pulled back a little quicker than she would have had she been hugging one of the girls, as though remembering she had set herself boundaries.

If Paige noticed the hasty retreat then she didn't say anything about it as she tossed the girls a wave and headed back towards The Brew. They hadn't managed to get very far on their run, but Paige had been up early fussing over what to wear and counting down the hours until she got to see the other girl at the pool. She was a little bit disappointed that her time with Emily had been cut short, but she was hoping she'd still make it to their swim practise later. She'd only suggested the extra practises as a way to see Emily outside of school. She was in need of a serious caffeine fix to get her through the morning.

Paige bit back a groan as she approached The Brew and spotted Kate and a few of the others girls from the swim team heading inside. Kate spotted the older girl before she could get out of sight and she waved enthusiastically towards her. Paige waved back with a tight smile as she popped the headphones of her iPod in and made to carry on with her run. She would have to put up with them all later at the pool, she didn't want to spend her whole Saturday with the Sharks; well maybe she did, but with just one Shark in particular. She let out a sigh as she broke in to a light jog. Maybe she could think of an excuse to get out of swimming so she could spend some more time with Emily instead.


	6. Chapter 6

"I don't know how you're here right now, and I don't care! I'm just glad you're back!" Aria flung her arms around Emily, making her stumble back. There was still a sharp pain in her ankle and she had to grit her teeth to stop from crying out. She wasn't quite sure how she'd gotten there either. She was back in the meadow with Aria, Paige and Ezra. She'd taken some painkillers for her ankle and had probably dozed off on her bed. She was too preoccupied with Paige to take much notice of the tiny girl wrapped around her. She was looking at Emily like she had said something offensive to her, her lips were set in a thin line and her jaw was locked. She dropped her gaze when Emily tried to meet her eyes.

"We came on a horse." Emily replied, as though that should have answered all of Aria's questions.  
"You don't just get on a horse and ride out of the afterlife!" Aria snapped incredulously.  
"I…I don't know what you're talking about Aria! I just woke up at the bottom of this lake…" She trailed off as some of the pieces started to slip in to place. "Wait, a minute, am I…Am I…"  
"A goddess?" Paige answered for her, her glare still cold and hard as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Looks like... Ezra, could I get some water for Thunder?"  
"Of course." Ezra took the horse's reigns and led the steed over towards the stream, taking Paige with him.  
"Wait do you want me to-" Emily tried to offer to cleanse the water, but Paige brushed her off.  
"It's fine." She walked off with Ezra, turning her back on Emily in more ways than one.

Emily tried to go after her, wanting to ask what the hell her attitude was for, but Aria still had her pinned in place. The tiny girl was surprisingly strong and she had her locked in some kind of death grip of a hug. "Oh my god! You don't remember what happened do you?" She started pulling Emily towards the house and she had no choice but to follow her if she wanted some answers. "I guess it was pretty traumatic and I'm amazed you even made it back…Spence probably has something to do with it knowing her-"  
"Wait, Aria, slow down. What happened to me? What can't I remember?" The mystery of her dream world seemed to finally be unravelling itself. So far all she knew was that she had to help Paige take down A. Anything else she could learn would be a bonus in helping her do just that.

"You died Emily! Almost two years ago..." Aria's confession was like a punch straight to the gut and Emily had to slump in to one of the chairs by the fireplace. Inside the cottage was pretty much how she would have expected a house shared by Aria and Ezra to look like. Most of the walls were lined with books and the furniture was a mismatch of colours and styles. The cottage itself smelled of flowers and fresh bread. Emily closed her eyes over, thinking of the people in her life who had died over the last two years. Aria took hold of her hand, trying to offer her some small comfort. She wasn't sure how her sister had made it back to the land of the living, but she wanted to make sure she kept her there. "A tricked you in to taking human form so she could kill you. She tricked us all; but she went after you first. She thought that by killing you she could take your power. That's what it was all about, getting our power to take over the kingdom."

"But she didn't?" Emily was still some kind of human water filter, which meant A hadn't been able to take what she wanted.  
"No, she didn't get yours. You gave them up in to the world before you died. That's why the water went bad, you were killed in the lake that feeds most of the rivers in the forest…we tried to help, but we were too late. We got there in time to save-"  
"So if I'm the goddess of the water, what does that make you and the others?" Emily interrupted, still trying to piece everything together.  
"Wow, you really don't remember." Aria looked at her like Paige had earlier, like she was still trying to figure her out.  
"I don't! I don't know _anything_ about this place or what I'm supposed to be-"  
"No, not that stuff." Aria shook her head. "I mean, you don't remember _her. _You haven't even asked whether she's ok."  
"Who?" Emily frowned, once again feeling like she was missing out on something big.  
"Maya."

Emily's chest tightened at the mention of the other girl's name. Maya had only been dead for a few short months and Emily wasn't ready to talk about it, not in her dreams or the real world. Losing her like she'd lost Ali had been hard enough. "Maya's dead." She muttered, unable to lift her gaze from the floor.  
"No. She's not. Maya's alive Em. We couldn't save you, but we saved her."  
"At least you saved _someone." _Emily didn't get a chance to process Aria's bombshell as Paige stepped through the door, closely followed by Ezra. She was glaring again, but Emily couldn't tell who it was directed at. "I mean hundreds died in the war, but you saved a barmaid…well done."

"Paige." Ezra chastised, standing up to defend his wife, but the younger girl was in no mood to hear it.  
"I'm not your student anymore Ezra, you can't tell me off. Your _wife _and her _sisters _are the reason this kingdom is in ruin!" Emily recognised the signs of Paige's unpredictable anger building. Her cheeks were going red and her fists were clenched at her sides.  
"We didn't do anything!" Aria objected, rising to her full height to stare the other girl down; not that she was very intimidating since Paige was a full head taller than her.

"Exactly!" Paige sneered, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword. "You did nothing! You all just stood back and let it happen! You chose your nice little mortal lives and your human lovers and you let the woods fall to A!"  
"We spent hundreds of years protecting these woods!" Aria snapped, a tiny ball of rage that could easily match the other girl. Ezra stepped between the two girls, though Emily wasn't quite sure what he could do to stop them if things came to a head. "We were here long before you humans settled in the woods! _We _looked after the kingdom that men built here; _we _ensured the succession of fair and just Kings and Queens for centuries! But we grew tired of just watching over humanity! When Emily met that girl, when a _goddess_ fell in love with a mortal, it opened our eyes to what we were missing! We saw what Emily and Maya had and we wanted it for ourselves. A tricked us in to becoming mortals so she could steal our power to take over the kingdom. I've paid a hefty price for my choices already. I lost my sister and Hanna and I lost our powers…I don't need a child to lecture me on my decisions!"

"How did you and Hanna lose your powers?" Emily interjected, trying to calm things down by changing the subject. Aria ripped her attention away from Paige and back towards her fellow goddess. It was Paige who answered her though.  
"They gave them up willingly. To save their hides-"  
"That's enough!" Ezra finally raised his voice, silencing the three girls. "Paige, I've known you since you were a child and you mean the world to me, but I will not have you come in to my house and harass my wife! Aria gave up her abilities to protect _me. _A lost out on getting Emily's power when she killed her, so she tried a different tactic with the other girls."  
"She threatened to kill the mortals we'd fallen in love with. That's why Hanna and I gave her what she wanted."  
"But Spencer didn't have anyone to threaten... which makes her the goddess of fire." Emily had to hand it to her imagination; her dream world was more creative than anything she had ever managed for English lit. "Spencer's the one you're looking for." She turned to Paige, but the other girl couldn't meet her eye. Something had changed between them and Emily could feel it.

"She still has her powers, she can help me take down A."  
"So do I! I might not remember everything, but with two of us on your side-"  
"I don't need _your _help." Paige snapped coldly at the other girl. "As soon as I find out where the fire goddess is I'm leaving, and you're staying here with your sister."  
"Like hell I am!" The entire point of her dream was to help take down A, to finally get some peace and quiet inside of her own head. She couldn't just let Paige drop her. "I know A! You need me!"  
"You said you and your friends brought A down once before, but you _lied_. You didn't bring A down, Emily! She _killed _you! You're no use to me."

* * *

"Hey Fields, glad you could join us." Paige grinned as she dropped down next to Emily on the bleachers. The Sharks had all met up at the public pool to practise together and though Emily couldn't swim with her ankle, Paige had still found her something to do.  
"Glad I can be _some_ use." Emily's reply was a little dry as she adjusted the clipboard that she was writing everyone's times down on. Paige's grin wavered for a second. The other girl had seemed to be a little off with her all afternoon, despite being fine when she left her with Hastings earlier in the morning. Paige just put it down to her ankle stopping her from getting involved with the team; but Emily knew her sour mood had nothing to do with the pain in her ankle. She had woken up from her afternoon nap not long after dream Paige had declared that she was leaving her behind with Ezra and Aria. Emily knew it was stupid to take it out on the real Paige, it was just a stupid dream after all, but she just couldn't shake her mood.

"Hey Paige, want to race me in the four hundred?" Kate called over to her, distracting the other girl's attention. She looked torn between leaving Emily alone and getting back in the water.  
"Go, I'm fine." Emily rolled her eyes at her. She didn't need a babysitter. When Paige didn't budge she gave her a light shove. "Go, McCullers! Show the juniors how it's done." She laughed and managed a weak smile, which seemed to reassure her friend enough to get her to re-join the others.

Emily wasn't the only one who was distracted though. Paige found it difficult to concentrate as she lined up next to Kate for their race. She glanced over at Emily and the other girl gave her a thumbs up as she held the stopwatch, ready to time her. She wore an absent smile as she thought back to the times it had been just her and Emily in the pool. She'd been close to throwing in the towel before Emily had reminded her how good it was to swim just for the sake of it. It didn't always have to be about competing; of course that didn't mean she wasn't going to wipe the floor with her younger team mate. She had a reputation to keep up after all.

The second the race started she shot in to the water like a torpedo. Blocking everything else out she focused on getting from one side of the pool to the other whilst keeping ahead of her competitor. She wasn't holding anything back. She'd been working with Kate a lot over the summer and she knew the younger girl had challenged her to show off her skills to the rest of the team. She was an up and coming star and she was looking for someone to notice, Paige could easily relate to that. She took the race, but Kate had put up a good fight, setting a better time for the four hundred metre race than she had all summer. Emily's stopwatch confirmed it as Paige leant over her to check the times. "Nice, Kat! you shaved off like four seconds!" She grinned back at the blonde and Emily felt her insides twisting.

"Paige, you're getting me wet!" She snapped, annoyed that Paige was dripping water all over her shoulder. "Wait…" she cringed, realising how that had sounded as Paige's cheeks flushed. The other girl laughed, diffusing the tension that had been brewing between them all afternoon.  
"Wow, Fields, just…wow." She laughed, shaking her head and deliberately sending more water droplets the other girl's way.  
"Quit it!" Emily playfully shoved at her shoulder again, her mood finally lightening. "I didn't mean…you know what I meant!" She pouted as Paige refused to stop laughing at her. "Ok, stop laughing or I'm not coming over for movie night!"  
"You have to! I cannot be stuck with these girls choosing the movies tonight! I swear, anyone even suggests _The Notebook_, or _Dear John, _and I am going postal!"

"I'm sorry, but_ Dear John_ is a deal breaker." Emily grinned as Paige rolled her eyes at her.  
"I never had you down as a Channing Tatum fan."  
"Oh, I'm not. It is _all _about Amanda Seyfried."  
"In that case we're watching _Jennifer's Body_."  
"What's that?"  
"Fields, you are in for a treat!" Paige smirked as she pulled off her swim cap. The other girls were still playing about in the water, but she was done for the day. She'd rather keep Emily company on the bleachers anyway. "I've also got that new zombie one that's just come out at the movies... I know a guy." She winked, acting all mysterious.  
"You know a guy?"  
"Ok, so Caleb hooked me up; let me have my moment!"

By the time they left the pool Emily was in much better spirits and she'd forgotten all about Paige spurning her in her dream. It was late in the afternoon, so most of the girls headed straight over to the McCullers' house. Emily had Paige in the front of her car with Pru and Kate sitting in the back. The two girls in the back seemed to be in some sort of competition to see who could talk the most, and the loudest. It was like having two of Hanna in the car; and Emily had a headache that was steadily growing in to a migraine. The pain in her ankle was still throbbing away too, making her feel uncomfortable. When they finally got to Paige's house she asked for some painkillers, which her host was only too happy to get for her. "Is it your ankle?" Paige fussed as she rummaged through the medicine cabinet in the kitchen. "Ok, I've got painkillers, anti-inflammatories, muscle rub, tiger balm-"

"Aspirin will do." Emily laughed, cutting off Paige's endless list of medical supplies. Her whole family were pretty active and they were prepared for any emergency. She got Emily a glass of water to wash the pills down with.  
"Are you sure you're ok? I mean you've been pretty tired lately and you're getting injured real easy. You don't have another ulcer do you? We need you this season-"  
"Relax McCullers. I'm fine." Emily cut off her rambling with a hand on her arm. The gesture wasn't meant to mean anything, but nothing was simple between the two of them. She felt the muscles in her fellow swimmer's arm tighten as her body battled with the flight or fight response. Paige was nothing if not a fighter. Her gaze dropping to Emily's lips, she stepped forward, closing what little distance there was between them.

"Hey Paige have you seen-" The two girls jumped apart as Pru walked in to the kitchen carrying the cordless phone. "…the takeout menus?" She finished her sentence, doing her best not to look like she'd just walked in on something as Emily nervously excused herself to the living room. Pru was one of Paige's closest friends, and she had been there for her when Paige had first come out. She'd listened to her cry over how badly she'd screwed her chances up with Emily and she'd been the one who had talked her in to trying again, even when Maya had made a reappearance. "My bad." The teenager cringed as she was on the receiving end of a McCullers death glare; the ones usually reserved for the likes of Hastings.

Paige sighed as she pushed her hair back from her face and shook her head at the ceiling. "No. It was mine."  
"Still trying to tap that, huh?" Pru asked flippantly as she hopped up on to the counter next to where her best friend was standing scorning herself.  
"Can you _not_ refer to the crush I've had on Emily for like _forever_, as me wanting to 'tap that'?" she deadpanned, feeling like an idiot for trying anything with Emily in the first place. The girl was still grieving for Maya, and any idiot could see she was still in a bad way.

Trying to forget about her stupidity Paige followed Pru back in to the living room where the other girls were already claiming spots to sit. Not all of the team had been able to make it to the practise, and the freshman hadn't been recruited yet, but there were still ten girls crammed in to Paige's living room. She, Emily and Pru were the only seniors there; though there were only another two seniors on the team. Kate and four of her friends made up the juniors and three of the sophomores had shown up too. "Saved you a seat." Kate offered as she scooted over to let Paige sit beside her on one of the sofas in front of the TV. Emily was sitting on the opposite one, so Paige decided it was probably safer to sit beside the sophomore. Pru took the empty seat beside Emily instead.

With so many teenage girls in one room it was hard to settle on what movies to watch and the pizza order was even harder. Paige was practically pulling her hair out by the time she got off the phone to the pizza shop, but miraculously their order turned up just fine with everything that everyone had asked for. Emily didn't eat much, only nibbling at one slice and eating a handful of fries. The other senior looked pretty run down despite not having actually been in the pool and Paige caught her with her eyes closed over a few times. Despite barely being able to keep her eyes open she was still one of the last girls left in Paige's living room when midnight rolled around. Pru and Emily were sharing one sofa while Kate and two of her friends had the other one. Paige had migrated to the empty recliner when the junior who had been sitting in it had left. She felt a little more at ease sitting on her own, after she'd spent most of the night trying to ignore the way Kate's bare leg kept deliberately brushing against hers.

Pru was the next to get up to leave, though she was spending the night so she didn't go very far. "'Night McCullers, I expect my wakeup call at 11am accompanied with breakfast!" Leaning over Paige she wrapped her arms around her best friend and pressed her lips to her cheek. Pru was a pretty touchy-feely person and even when Paige had come out as being gay, the other girl hadn't let it affect their friendship. She was aware of more than one set of eyes on her as she pulled back with a smirk. "Goodnight ladies!" She tossed a wave at the other girls before making her way upstairs to the guest room.  
"We should probably get going too." One of Kate's friends, a redheaded girl whose name Paige couldn't remember for the life of her, stood up and pulled her car keys out of her handbag. She was driving all of her friends home so they had no choice but to leave when she did. Kate looked more than a little disappointed as she dragged herself off the couch. Paige stood up too, to see them out, and followed them to the door.

"Thanks for tonight Paige, it was totally awesome!" Kate went in for a hug at the door and the older girl awkwardly returned it. She wasn't stupid; she knew the junior liked her as more than a friend. The other girl had spent most of the summer asking her to hang out and she'd been less than subtle about her interest in girls. It had been pretty refreshing for Paige, to have someone to talk to about that kind of stuff, but she was only interested in having Kate as a friend. There was only one girl for Paige McCullers; and she was fast asleep on her couch when she walked back in to the living room. Knowing how tired Emily had been all day, and not wanting her friend to drive home when she was clearly exhausted, she slipped upstairs to fetch some blankets from the linen closet. She would just let her sleep on the couch, it was fairly comfortable and her parents weren't due back until late Sunday afternoon anyway.

Paige bit nervously at her lip as she leant over the other girl to place the blankets over her. Emily Fields was simply _stunning, _even when she was sleeping. Her long dark hair had fallen over her face, so Paige moved to gently tuck the hair behind her ear. Emily stirred, moving in to Paige's touch so that she was cupping her cheek. "Paige?" A frown crossed Emily's lips, distorting her previously peaceful expression. The other girl held her breath as she waited for Emily to open her eyes and ask what she was doing lurking over her as she slept. "Paige…" Her name left Emily's lips like a whimper and she quickly realised that her ex was still fast asleep; and quite obviously dreaming about her.


	7. Chapter 7

"Don't you dare walk away from me!" Emily shouted as Paige stormed away from her. The irony wasn't lost on her. How many times had she turned her back on Paige? Walked away from her when she needed her the most? "Paige! Stop! You have to let me explain!" The other girl stopped in her tracks and Emily stopped too, a few feet back from her, watching as her fists clenched and her shoulders shook with barely controlled anger. She knew from experience just where the girl's rage could lead to and her eyes nervously darted to the sword hanging at her side.

"You lied to me." Paige's tone was as cold and dry as the first time it had been when she'd stumbled upon Emily in the woods and her expression was just as blank; just as guarded. It was painful to see. It was like looking at the Paige who had taunted and bullied her in the locker room last year, the one who had been so scared of admitting who and what she was that she had shoved Emily's head under water in a moment of madness; but that's all it had been. She had been scared and cornered and she had lashed out like a wounded animal. There was no real darkness inside Paige McCullers. She was just a scared little girl with a big sword. "You didn't defeat A! _You _arethe reason she took over the kingdom! _You _arethe reason my parents are-" She trailed off, unable to finish as she dropped her gaze to the dirt.

"Go on. Say it." Emily felt her chest tightening. The pain was worse than anything she had ever felt before as realisation slowly sunk in. If what they had all told her was true, if she and the others were some great powerful goddesses who had given A the power she needed to take the Rosewoods, then they were responsible for everything that had happened; for every death. She knew it was just a dream, but every time she closed her eyes and ended up in the world that her mind had created it was getting harder to remember that it was _just _a dream. Everything felt so real, from the cold breeze blowing against her skin to the heavy scent of the flowers in the meadow surrounding her. Every time she ended up back in the Rose Woods it felt like it was getting harder and harder to keep her grip on reality. She felt responsible for what had happened to Paige and her parents.

"Emily don't, please…just don't." Paige's jaw was clenched tight as she took another step back, needing to put more distance between them. She had let herself believe that the stranger she'd found in the woods would help her to take down A. She had been foolish to believe in anyone other than herself. She wouldn't make the same mistake twice. "You're no use to me. You can't help me take out A. She already killed you once…and I won't be responsible for her doing it again! Just stay here with Aria and Ezra. Ezra is a good man, he and Aria will help you figure out the things you've lost-"

"The only thing I've lost is _you._" Emily interrupted her, her voice cracking as she made the admission. Everything that had been happening in both worlds seemed to be getting the better of her and she was losing sight of which Paige she was talking to as she felt tears sliding down her cheeks. "You need me as much as I need you! You act like you're so tough and like you don't need anybody, but the truth is you do! You want to be accepted and included as much as everybody else does! I _see _you Paige McCullers! So don't you dare look away from me!

"I'm sorry…" Paige shook her head, still not able to look Emily in the eye. "I'm not changing my mind. I'm leaving first thing in the morning and you're not coming with me…I don't need you anymore."  
"Paige?" Emily shouted again as the other girl turned her back on her and headed back towards the cottage. "Paige…"

* * *

"Em! Em, it's ok!" Paige's arms wrapped around Emily as she sat bolt upright on the couch. Her eyes were wide and unfocused and she was physically shaking as she fought to get her bearings. She usually woke herself up, or was roused by her alarm, but Paige had been worried when she'd started talking and thrashing around in her sleep and she'd tried to gently shake her to get her up. Nothing about Emily's awakening had been gentle though.

"Paige?" She was still breathing hard as she pulled away from the other girl and pushed her hair back from her face. She looked around the living room and found it empty. "Where is everybody?"  
"They left when your snoring got louder than the TV." Paige teased, earning herself a shove from her fellow swimmer.  
"I do not snore!"  
"No…but you do talk in your sleep." Emily's face fell as she took in Paige's admission.

"What did I say?" Her throat felt dry as she swallowed. Given what she had been dreaming about lately she could only imagine what she had said. Paige ducked her head, looking away from Emily and down at the floor. That was never a good sign.  
"My name. You uh, you said it twice. It seemed like you were having a nightmare."  
"I wasn't." Emily sighed, not quite sure how to explain why she had said her name in her sleep. How was she supposed to tell her the truth without sounding crazy? She didn't even understand the dreams, so how could she make Paige understand them? "Ok, so this is going to sound crazy, but I've been having these dreams."

"If I tell you something, will you promise not to laugh? Or think I'm crazy?" Emily toyed with the cushion in her hands as she tried to work up the courage to finally talk to someone about her dreams. It was getting to the point that every time she fell asleep she was going back to The Rose Woods and it was starting to worry her. Normal dreams didn't pick up right where you left them. Normal dreams were disjointed and made no sense, yet the story playing out in her mind every night was like a movie.

"I'd never laugh at you." Paige replied sincerely, holding Emily's gaze for a little longer than was needed. Emily felt her cheeks flush as she thought back to the kiss that had had almost happened between them in the kitchen earlier; until Pru had walked in on them. Taking a deep breath she finally let someone in on her secret.  
"I've been having these dreams lately, like every night. There about people in Rosewood-"  
"Clearly I'm in them." Paige tried to make a joke out of it. Her smile faltered as Emily looked away guiltily. "So what are they about?"

"It sounds really lame, but it's kind of like I'm on this quest to take out this evil queen, but it's A- I mean it's Mona. I think maybe it's my brain's way of helping me deal with everything that happened; but they're really vivid, like when I close my eyes I'm actually going somewhere else…like another world."

"Em, you've been through more than most people go through in a life time. It's not surprising that your subconscious is trying to find a way to deal with it. Sometimes dreams can seem really real, but they're not. Even when you're asleep, you're still in control." She placed her hand over Emily's and the other girl made no attempt to pull away as they just sat there drinking their coffee. After a while Paige finally asked the question that had been burning on her lips. "So what am I in your dream? If Mona's the evil queen and it's some sort of fairy-tale, am I one of the dwarves?" She joked, making Emily snort with laughter. She felt tired and grumpy, yet Paige could always bring a smile to her lips.

She felt safe with her. Not for the first time she found herself wondering what might have happened between them had she just been able to handle waiting for her to come to terms with her sexuality and coming out. Now that Paige was finally out, it was Emily herself who wasn't ready. It was too soon after Maya's death to be thinking about moving on and she didn't want to risk losing what she had with Paige by messing her about. She bit her lip as she shook her head. She didn't want to give Paige the wrong impression, but she also didn't want to lie to her. She wanted to be honest, like Paige had that night at the masqueraude ball, the night she'd admitted she still cared about her.  
"Actually, I think you're Prince Charming."

She didn't miss the small smile that Paige was trying to hide. "Well, let me do my princely duties and offer up my bed for tonight…and I'll take the couch." She added hastily as she realised her offer had sounded more like a proposition.  
"I don't want to go back to sleep." Emily couldn't go back there so soon, not with the other Paige so mad at her.  
"Well then, I'll go make us some hot cocoa and we can put on that zombie movie Caleb gave me?"  
"Sounds good." Emily nodded as Paige got up off the couch to make the cocoa. "Thanks for this…for everything."  
"No problem…like I said, I'm here for you. For whatever you need." Emily knew what she needed. She just wasn't ready to ask for it.

So she settled for scooting a little closer to Paige when she sat back down with their cocoa. The other girl started questioning her some more about her dreams and Emily found herself telling her pretty much everything about them. It felt good to be able to confide in someone.

At some point during the movie she fell asleep, she was pretty certain of that because one minute she was curled up next to Paige and the next she was standing alone in a meadow. She blinked against the glare of the low hanging sun. It was getting late and she was running out of time to change Paige's mind about leaving her behind. She also needed to find out more about her supposed death at A's hands. If she was really some kind of goddess in her dream, then maybe she could use that against A. Maybe she could be of some use to Paige after all. She still didn't know why she was having the dreams, or what they really meant; but what she was certain of was that she had to stick with Paige. She had to make the jaded girl see that she needed her. The truth had worked with the real Paige, so she was willing to give it a shot with the dream version.

Making her way back to the cottage she found Aria and Ezra making supper. Paige was sat at the backdoor, polishing her sword with what looked like an old rag. "She's pretty attached to that thing." Emily commented as she joined Aria by the cast iron stove that she was standing by and fussing over a large pot of soup.  
"It was her father's." Ezra was the one who replied with a heavy sigh. "He taught her how to wield a sword when she was four years old. His sword hasn't left her side in the two years he's been dead."

"What happened?" Emily dropped her voice to a whisper. She wanted to learn more about what was driving Paige, but with the way things were between them she couldn't exactly just ask her. She'd have to get her answers from where she could.  
"A and her army of thugs stormed the castle. There were too many of them and A was too strong. They took out the knights and without the protection of the goddesses the king fell. A was wearing his crown before his body hit the floor." Ezra rubbed at his eyes as though fighting back tears.

Even after two years his memory of the slaughter was still fresh in his mind. "I managed to get Paige out of the castle. I brought her here to stay with Aria and I, but it didn't work out. After a few months her grief turned to anger and she started to turn it on Aria. Paige is a good kid; I was her private tutor for five years before her parents were killed, and she stayed with us for almost a year afterwards, but she wasn't happy here. She won't be happy anywhere until A is gone."

"She won't be happy until she gets herself killed." Aria commented dryly, shooting Emily a pointed look.  
"Aria-"  
"No, Ezra! You know I'm right! That girl isn't look for justice. She just has a death wish!"  
"And excellent hearing." Paige growled out as she returned her sword to its scabbard, deliberately sliding it across the stone floor and making Aria wince. "I'm turning in for the night." Despite her foul mood she gave them a courteous bow before retiring to one of the bedrooms at the back of the cottage. She shut the solid wooden door behind her and slid down to the floor, cradling her head in her hands as she tried not to let out a scream of frustration.

She had been stupid to believe that Emily could be some kind of alley in her fight against A. She had learnt a long time ago that the only person she could rely on was herself. She hadn't been thinking with her head when she'd first met Emily and her frame of mind certainly hadn't been getting any clearer by keeping her around. She was doing the right thing by leaving her behind with Aria and Ezra. Aria was her family after all, she would be better for Emily than Paige could ever be. She just had to convince Emily of that.

Picking herself up off the floor she removed her holster from around her belt and unlaced the thick leather vest and chaps that served as her amour. After kicking off her boots she felt like a ton weight had been lifted off her shoulders and she collapsed down on to the bed that she had spent a year of sleepless nights in. The room had been hers for the year she had spent with Ezra and his wife, but it had never been a home to her. It had been somewhere to lay her head while she contemplated getting her revenge on the evil bitch who had taken everything from her. It had taken almost two years, but Paige finally had a plan in place and she wasn't going to jeopardise that by taking a chance on some self-centred goddess with amnesia. Emily might not be able to remember it, but as far as Paige was concerned it was Emily who was to blame for A getting the power she needed to take over the kingdom in the first place. If Emily hadn't fallen in love with a human girl then Paige would still have a family. She would still have her own bed and her own room and she would be surrounded by her own things. She would have so much more than an old sword and a young horse.

She jumped as she heard a gentle knocking at the door and she wiped furiously at her eyes, trying to hide any sign that she had been crying. Weakness wasn't a luxury she could afford. "Come in." She grumbled, thankful that her voice came out sounding reasonably steady. Her pulse quickened as she caught sight of Emily standing hesitantly by the door.  
"Hey." She gave her a timid smile as she stepped in to the room. "I'm sorry I talked to Ezra about you. I should have asked you what I wanted to know. I just…"  
"You just what?" Paige tried to keep her tone harsh, but she found her anger slipping away as she stared in to the other girl's big brown eyes. She just looked like a little lost puppy.  
"I want to keep fighting! I want to help you take down A! I want to be able to close my eyes and not be haunted by that bitch every second of my life!"  
"What do you want to know?" Paige surprised them both as she sat up on the bed and shifted back against the wall as she tucked her knees up to her chest. "You were asking Ezra about me? What do you want to know?"

_Everything;_ The word danced on Emily's lips as she took a seat beside Paige on the bed. It was covered in thick soft blankets that sank down as she sat on top of them. The bed was warm and inviting and Emily found herself lying down on her side as she looked up at the girl curled up next to her. "Are you really on a suicide mission? Do you expect to win if you take on A? Or are you just doing it so you go down fighting?" It wasn't the question Paige had been expecting. She took a minute to mull it over.  
"A already killed me once; or she thinks she did. The night she stormed the castle, I watched her kill my father. I watched him drop to his knees as the life drained out of his eyes…and something inside me just snapped. I picked up his sword and I charged at A with everything I had." Paige swallowed as she blinked back the tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes. "But it wasn't enough. She took my father's sword from me and she ran me through. I was fifteen years old and she just left me there to die. I would have too, if Ezra hadn't come to find me." Paige rubbed her hand over the raised skin of her left thigh; even through her clothing she could feel the scar that A had left her with. She stiffened as she felt Emily's hand covering her own, her fingers running softly against the rough skin covered by the material of her trousers. She took several deep breaths, unable to look away from their joined hands. She knew that if she looked up, if she looked in to those big brown eyes of the goddess sitting beside her, she wouldn't be able to go through with leaving her behind.

"A thinks she killed me too. So the last thing Mona will expect is to be attacked by two _ghosts_. Please Paige, let me help you." Emily sat up and pressed her lips softly against Paige's cheek as the first tears fell. She could feel the other girl breathing hard and she knew that she was purposefully avoiding looking at her. Emily brought her hand up to cup Paige's chin, forcing her to turn and look at her. "You don't have to be alone anymore." Paige wished it could be that easy. She wished she could just move her head an inch and catch the other girl's lips before letting her defences crumble; but life wasn't easy and it certainly wasn't fair. She'd already chosen her path and it was too late to pick another. She nodded, her lips almost grazing Emily's because of how close they were sitting.  
"I'd like that."

* * *

Emily's eyes opened slowly as they adjusted to the light in the room. She yawned and stretched, still feeling exhausted despite getting a good night's rest. She frowned as she found herself alone. Paige was nowhere in sight, yet Emily distinctly remembered falling asleep on her. "Paige?" She called out to her but go no answer back. Blind panic started to build in her chest as she got to her feet and called out again. "Paige?" She skidded to a halt as Aria greeted her at the door of the room the girls had being sharing the night before. She wore a sombre look and Emily felt the pit of her stomach drop.  
"I'm sorry Em. I heard her sneaking out before first light. She's gone."


	8. Chapter 8

Emily winced as she sat up and stretched. She'd fallen asleep on Paige's couch and had awoken with a crick in her neck and a chip on her shoulder. "Morning, Fields." Pru nodded as she walked past on her way to the kitchen. She was wearing pyjamas and looked quite at ease as she wandered around the McCullers residence.  
"Morning." Emily mumbled back. She pushed away the blanket that someone had placed over her during the night. It had probably been Paige. She would have found the gesture sweet, but she was too busy being mad at the other girl for leaving her. She knew that Paige abandoning her had only been in her dream, but waking up alone for a second time was just too much for her to take. Her mood wasn't getting any better. "Hey Pru, do you know where the bathroom is?"  
"Sure, third door on the right upstairs." The Asian girl beamed at her. She was surprisingly perky for it being so early in the morning. "You can't miss it."  
"Thanks."

Emily trudged upstairs, pushing her hair back from her face as she counted the doors on the right. The third one was right at the end of the hall and she pushed it open without a second thought. Her eyes widened as she walked in on Paige pulling on her jeans and she dived back out of the room; out of Paige's room. She'd seen her changing a million times when they were swimming together, but walking in on Paige half dressed in her bedroom was something completely different. Emily was still cursing Pru under her breath as the door opened again and the other girl appeared, thankfully fully clothed. "Hey." Paige gave her a sheepish smile. "Were you looking for me?"

"No! I mean… I was looking for the bathroom. Pru gave me directions to your room instead."  
"Huh, how about that." Paige commented dryly, knowing exactly what her best friend had been up to. "Three years she's been staying over at my house, you'd think she'd remember where the bathroom is… Is everything ok?" She asked when her sarcasm failed to get as much as a smile from Emily. The other girl seemed distracted and a little out of it.  
"Everything's fine. I just really need the bathroom."

"I have an en suite." Paige opened her door and stepped aside to let Emily in to her room. She mumbled a thank you and slipped inside. Emily had never actually been in the other girl's room. Paige had been in hers a few times back when they had been sort of dating. The other swimmer's room was similar to her own. There were swimming trophies and field hockey ribbons on the shelves, and posters of bands on the walls. The quilt was missing from the bed and Emily was willing to bet it was the one she had been sleeping under. Paige followed her line of sight. "I uh, I didn't want to wake you up so I just threw a blanket over you. I hope it wasn't too uncomfortable to sleep on?"  
"It was-"  
"Fine?"

Emily bit back a smile as she rolled her eyes at the other girl. "Yeah. It's fine. It's all fine all the time." She tried to push past her to get to the bathroom, but Paige caught her arm.  
"Come on Em, talk to me. What's going on? We were getting on great last night and now it's like you're putting up a wall again. Did you have another bad dream or something?"  
"No." Emily huffed as she wrenched her arm free.  
"Oh my god, you're pissed at me because of something that happened in your dream aren't you?" Paige could read Emily like a favoured book and her guilt was written all over her face as she ducked her head.

"You left me." Emily growled out. She couldn't believe she was admitting that she was angry with her because of something that had happened in her head. "I know it's stupid and it's just a dream, but when I'm asleep it feels so real…and I woke up and you were gone. You'd just…you'd just left me." Emily felt hot tears stinging at her eyes. She was exhausted and on the verge of losing it as Paige's arms wrapped around her waist. She buried her face in the crook of her neck and bit back a sob as she felt the other girl's lips press against her cheek.  
"Em, I'm not going anywhere."

It took everything in her for Emily to herself from turning her head to catch Paige's lips. A big part of her wanted to throw caution to the wind and give in to her rekindled feelings for her ex-girlfriend, but the rational part of her frazzled mind wouldn't let her. She couldn't do that to Paige; not when she knew she wasn't ready for anything to happen. She was still grieving for Maya and she wasn't looking for another relationship. She couldn't mess Paige about like that, so she pulled back and wiped at her eyes. "Thanks…you're a great friend Paige. I really appreciate that."  
"Friend." Paige nodded with a strained smile. She was clearly struggling to do the right thing herself. She cleared her throat as she ducked her head to avoid meeting Emily's eyes. "You should get some more sleep, you look exhausted. Take my bed and I'll wake you up in a few hours."  
"No, Paige, really I can't-"

"I'm not taking no for an answer, Fields." Paige gently pushed her towards her bed. "Get some sleep and when you wake up we'll talk some more. Maybe talking to someone about this stuff will help." Knowing it would be useless to argue Emily nodded in agreement and climbed in to Paige's bed. It would be good to finally share what was going on in her head with somebody else. Leaving her to sleep, Paige headed downstairs to find Pru. She was perched on one of the kitchen counters eating cereal.

"Was there a reason you sent Emily up to my room?" Paige glowered at her best friend as she stood in front of her with her arms folded across her chest. Pru knew more than anyone just how complicated Paige and Emily's friendship was. She couldn't understand why she would take such a cheap shot at Emily.  
"Because the unresolved sexual tension between the two of you is starting to annoy me?" Pru shot back without missing a beat. "Seriously McCullers, just kiss the damn girl!"  
"Pru!" Paige hissed at her. She checked over her shoulder to make sure Emily hadn't come downstairs for some reason. "You know it's not that simple with us." Pru just shrugged in response before she went back to eating her cereal.  
"It should be."

Paige agreed with her there. Things should have been simple between her and Emily. She adored the other girl and she was pretty certain that Emily still had feelings for her. That should have been enough for them to make things work; but with Maya's death, along with Mona's terrorising of her and her friends, and Allison's memory still haunting her, Emily just wasn't in the right frame of mind for a relationship. She needed a friend and Paige needed to be patient. She couldn't risk losing Emily for good by pushing her too fast.

She let her sleep for the full morning, knowing that she needed the rest. Pru left just before lunchtime, so Paige made some sandwiches and freshly squeezed orange juice to take up to Emily on a tray. She slipped quietly in to her room and found Emily still fast asleep. She was curled up in a ball on Paige's bed and it was the most peaceful she had seen the other girl in weeks. She had known something was bothering her fellow Shark, but she had thought it was to do with Maya or the stuff Mona had put her through. It was sad to think that Emily's own mind was plaguing her on top of everything else she had to deal with.

Paige was reluctant to wake her. She looked so peaceful and at ease. She had promised to get her up after a few hours though and missing a meal would only throw the other athlete's blood sugar off and make her feel even more run down. Dropping down beside the bed she gently shook Emily's shoulder to wake her. It took a few moments for her to stir, but eventually her eyes peeled open. A slow smile spread over her lips as she looked up at Paige. "You came back."

"I never left, Em." Paige's response seemed to throw her. She blinked and rubbed at her eyes as she sat up. She seemed to realise she was actually awake and she lost her smile. Paige didn't let it faze her. She was determined to keep Emily out of the dark mood she had been in earlier. "You didn't have any dreams then?" She took a seat on the edge of the bed as Emily wrapped her arms around her knees. She hadn't dreamt at all. She barely felt like she had even slept.  
"What time is it?"

"It's a little after noon. I brought you up some lunch." Paige reached for the tray that she had left on her desk and placed it down beside Emily on the bed. The other girl picked at the sandwich on her plate and sipped at the orange juice, but she seemed to be doing it to be polite rather than because she was actually hungry.  
"I feel like I only just closed my eyes." Emily sighed. She still looked exhausted and Paige just didn't know what else she could do to help. Emily was disappointed that she hadn't gone back to the Rose Woods when she'd fallen asleep. She'd wanted to press Aria to find out where Paige had been headed when she'd left the cottage.

"You're always tired lately." Paige pointed out, unable to keep her concern from creeping in to her voice.  
"Yeah, I am. I'm sleeping so much, but I don't feel any better for it. It's like…" Emily stopped, knowing she was about to say something that sounded crazy.  
"What? Talk to me, Em. I want to help."  
"It feels like every time I go to sleep I _actually_ spend my nights wandering around the woods with you on a horse." Emily admitted with a heavy sigh. "It's crazy I know, but it just feels so…so real."

"I've got a horse?" Paige asked, making Emily laugh. The other girl had a way of putting her at ease, even when she felt like she was exposing herself. Maybe it was because Paige had been so open and honest with her the year before. Emily had been the first person that Paige had really opened up to and it had left the girls with a connection that neither of them could deny.  
"You do. He's called Thunder and he's beautiful." Emily smiled, thinking of the big black steed. It was easier to talk to Paige about her dreams by starting with the little stuff. "You also have a big ass sword."  
"Wow, a horse and a sword? Is this your dream or mine?"

The two girls sat on Paige's bed as Emily told her about her dream, starting from waking up at the bottom of the lake and finishing with Paige leaving her behind at Ezra's cottage. To the other girl's credit she didn't interrupt her too much and she didn't seem to be judging her as she lay on her side, patiently listening; even when she spoke about Maya and Paige's parents. "And when I woke up you were just gone." Emily finished off, having filled her friend in on everything that had happened in her dreams in the week that she had been having them. Paige looked pensive as she mulled everything over.

"So my parents are dead and it's all A's fault, and I kind of blame you and your friends because you're some kind of forest gods who fell in love with humans and turned your back on the kingdom you were meant to protect?" Paige wasn't being condescending. She was simply talking out loud to make sure she had everything straight in her head. "So we just need to figure out where I would go. From what you've told me I figure my next move would be to go looking for Spencer."  
"You don't have to do this you know." Emily tucked her hair back behind her ear self-consciously.  
"I want to help." Paige insisted. Taking hold of her hand, she offered her a sincere smile. "You clearly need somebody to talk to about this stuff. So talk to me."

* * *

"Tell me where she went, Aria!" Emily insisted as she rounded on the smaller girl. She'd spent most of the day at Paige's house, talking about the dreams that were plaguing her. Almost as soon as she'd gotten home she had fallen asleep on her bed and had woke up back in the cottage with Aria and Ezra. Confiding in Paige in real life had made her all the more determined to track down the other girl in her dream. She was all the more convinced that Paige was the key to getting rid of A from her subconscious. She just needed Aria to give her a clue as to where to start looking.

"Emily, this isn't our fight!" Aria insisted, refusing to give the other girl the information she so desperately needed. "Paige is on a suicide mission taking on A! She already killed you once-"  
"Which makes this my fight! I'm tired of running scared from A! It's time we stood up and fought back!" She wasn't going to be the easy target anymore. She wasn't going to roll over and just take Mona's abuse; even if she was only victimizing her in her mind.  
"Why? You're alive Emily! I don't know how, but you came back to us when we thought you were gone! Why can't you just go back to living the life you fought so hard to get in the first place? You were the one who showed us what it could be like to love a mortal!" Aria looked back at Ezra with a warm smile as he took her hand. "Please Emily, just let Paige go. You can't help that girl. No one can."

Emily felt a red hot anger building inside of her at the thought of giving up on her friend. Too many people had been quick to write Paige off, herself included at one time, and Emily wasn't about to let that happen again. "I'm going looking for her, so you can either tell me where she went or I can wander around the woods by myself!" She headed towards the door, hoping she wouldn't need to actually follow through on her plan to storm out. She had been riding through the vast woods with Paige all week and she shuddered at the thought of trying to navigate them alone. Outside she could hear a heavy rain that had suddenly started, making her dread venturing outside all the more. Luckily Aria caved just as Emily reached the door.  
"Wait! She wanted to know where Spencer was."

Emily bit back her smile before turning around to face the smaller girl with her arms folded across her chest. "So where is she?"  
"I don't know and that's exactly what I told Paige. Spencer's hiding from A so she can't steal her powers; and you should be doing the same. If she finds out you're alive she's going to come after you again-"  
"Why? She already has yours and Hanna's; and it's not like filtering water is going to make her any more of a bad ass evil queen is it?"  
"You can do a lot more than that! You're the goddess of water; you have _complete _control over it. What do you think started the rain?" She nodded towards the window where the heavy storm clouds were hanging low in the sky. They were already disappearing as Emily felt her anger subsiding. "Em, please, if you don't even remember what you can do then how do you expect to take on A? Just stay a while, just until-"

"I can't! I'm sorry, but I can't wait." She had learnt over the course of the week that she could wake up at any given moment and she wanted to catch up to Paige before that happened. She'd agreed to tell the real Paige all about her dreams when she had them and she didn't want to still be in a foul mood with her when they spoke. She knew it was crazy to take her frustration out on Paige, but it was hard to separate fantasy from reality.  
"Fine…I told her that Hanna might know where Spencer is. She's probably heading there. She left maybe an hour ago. Ezra can take you along the path to try and catch her up." Aria didn't look happy to be offering to help her leave, but she knew Emily would go off herself if she didn't do something. "Just promise to come back in one piece." She wrapped her arms around her sister and squeezed her tight.  
"I promise." Emily nodded, impatient to leave. Paige had a big head start and she didn't want to lose any more ground.

Once the goodbyes were out of the way Emily followed Ezra out to a small stable down by the lake. She lingered by the water's edge while Ezra prepared the horse. "We're ready." He called out to her as he led a small white horse out of the stable. It looked old and frail and Emily had serious reservations about climbing on to its back. The animal was nowhere near as impressive as Paige's horse, Thunder. "Don't worry; she's faster than she looks." Ezra patted the horse's side affectionately before mounting it. Taking his word for it Emily followed suit, gingerly holding on to his waist.

The horse turned out to be pretty fast and before long they had put quite a bit of distance between them and the cottage. They rode pretty much in silence, with Emily unsure of just what to say. It was awkward enough seeing Mr Fitz outside of class without dreaming about riding on a horse with him. "What's wrong? Why have we stopped?" Emily looked around wildly as Ezra brought the horse to a standstill in the middle of the road. She couldn't see any sign of Paige or Thunder.  
"Aria's right." Ezra kept his gaze low on the reigns that he was gripping in his clenched fists. "Paige doesn't exactly plan on coming out of this thing alive. She just wants revenge for what happened to her parents. I don't blame her, I really don't…but I don't want to see her throw her life away."

"Me either. That's why I need to find her, I can help her!" Emily insisted and she really meant it. She could help Paige and help herself in the process.  
"I know you can." Ezra nodded. Clicking his tongue and pulling on the reigns he turned the horse around to head back the way they had come.  
"What are you doing!"  
"Aria lied to you. She and Paige made a deal last night. Paige didn't really leave; it was a trick to get you to agree to let me take you to Hanna. Aria figured she'd be able to talk some sense in to you, or at least keep you out of the way until Paige makes her move on A. Paige should still be at the cottage. If we hurry back we should be able to catch her."  
"Then what are we waiting for?"


	9. Chapter 9

"Good morning sunshine." Paige met Emily by her locker with a smile on Monday morning. She was holding two cups of coffee, one of which she handed over to her exhausted friend. The dark circles under Emily's eyes were growing larger every day, despite all of the sleep she was getting.  
"You're in a good mood." Emily replied after she'd thanked her for the coffee.  
"And you're not… Is it the dreams again?" The other girl asked, dropping her voice so that nobody in the hallway could overhear them. "What did I do now?" She teased, but her attempt at humour cut a little too close to the bone. Emily tried to cover her anger, but it was written all over her face. She had woken up from her dream just before she and Ezra had reached the cottage and she still hadn't been able to confront the other Paige about leaving her behind.

She felt stupid talking about her dreams in the cold light of day. It was easier to remember that the other world wasn't real when she was leaning back against her school locker and sharing a coffee with a sword-free Paige McCullers. Nonetheless, she filled Paige in on what had happened and to her credit she seemed genuinely interested in listening to her. "Tricking you was bad, but I can see why she did it. I'd do the same thing." Paige admitted with a shrug, unaware of the can of worms she had just released.

"Wait, what? You're defending what she did?" Emily stopped in her tracks as they were walking towards the quad to meet the others.  
"Em, she's trying to keep you safe from A. I'd do _exactly_ the same thing. If I'd known about what Mona was doing to you last year I would have-"  
"Would have what?" Emily snapped, her anger getting the better of her as she called Paige out. "What could you have done Paige? Been my bodyguard? You wouldn't even go to a _concert_ alone with me last year…" She trailed off as she watched the flash of hurt cross the other girl's expression. She was tired and irate and she'd gone too far, alienating the one person who was really helping her to hold it all together. "Paige, I'm sorry-"

"No. It's fine. You're right. I wasn't strong enough for you last year…but I am now. That might not count for much; but I won't ever let anyone hurt you again. I'll get a horse and a kick ass sword if I have to!" She grinned, getting a smile from the other girl.  
"I don't think you'll have to go that far. Mona is locked up and A is gone." At least she was gone from her real life. She was just haunting her dreams instead; but she was talking to the wrong Paige about solving that particular problem. "But it definitely counts. It counts a lot." Emily admitted as she took hold of Paige's hand. It felt right, having their fingers interlocked like that while Paige grinned at her with that bashful smile of hers.

"Yo! McCullers!" The moment turned awkward pretty fast as Emily withdrew her hand at the sound of Caleb shouting over to Paige. He was standing waving at the two of them from the door that led out to the quad. The two girls made their way over to him in an awkward silence, as though they'd just been caught doing something wrong. Emily felt like everyone was watching her; judging her because of the time she was spending with Paige so soon after Maya had been killed. Not many people knew she and Paige had had a thing in the past, but half of the school knew Paige had come out. Emily felt eyes watching her everywhere she went, from the school hallways to the Brew. Even as she took a seat at the table her friends were occupying, she could sense them all looking between her and Paige out of the corner of their eyes.

Paige, for her part, was sitting quietly looking over Caleb's shoulder at something he was showing her on his phone. She was doing her best to seem interested, but Emily could see something was bothering her and it wouldn't take her three guesses to figure out what it was. She knew she was messing the other girl around, and it just wasn't fair on either of them. She really didn't mean to string Paige along, but it seemed next to impossible for the two of them to just be friends. The connection between them meant it had to be all or nothing; and Emily wasn't ready for either option; at least not in her waking life.

* * *

"Crap..." Paige let her hand drop to the hilt of the sword at her side out of instinct as she watched an old white horse crossing the meadow towards her. It was carrying two riders, one of which should have been left on the other side of the kingdom. She stood her ground as Emily climbed down from the horse. Her arms were crossed and her jaw was set as she walked straight over to Paige. Ezra quietly excused himself, giving them some privacy. The young heroine waited for the wrath of the heavens themselves to rain down on her as Emily opened her mouth to speak.  
"Getting Ezra to take me away was really lame…but I get why you did it." Paige was silent at Emily's admission. She was more than a little surprised by how calm the other girl sounded. Emily had spent the whole day thinking about what the other Paige had said about protecting her. "I know you're trying to protect me, but it's not your call. You don't have a monopoly on taking down A…and I think you _need _me. You need somebody to make sure you come out of this alive. We both do. So you either _let _me help you, or I tag along anyway. It's your choice."

"That doesn't seem like much of a choice." Paige challenged, though she was mostly just bolstering to try and save face. She couldn't be seen to be giving in so easily; though the truth was part of her was happy to see her companion again. She'd only known Emily a short while, but the girl had left her mark on the usually reclusive warrior. She'd found herself actually missing her in the short hours she'd been gone. "Climb up then, we don't want to lose the light." Paige turned to climb on to Thunder's back before offering her gloved hand out to Emily.

"Where are we going?" Emily finally asked once they'd been riding for a while; long enough for Paige not to be able to take her back to the cottage anyway.  
"I've got a lead on the fire goddess."  
"Spencer?"  
"Right… Well if we can find _Spencer _and talk her in to helping us take down A, then it puts us in a stronger position to actually take her on."  
"If I know Spence, she'll be more than happy to help us. She hates Mona just as much as you do."

"Really? Did she murder her whole family too? Take away her home, her livelihood and everything she held dear?" Paige sneered, letting something other than anger or indifference slip through her careful façade. She no longer looked like a warrior. The young woman standing in front of her looked as fragile and as broken as the night she had turned up on Emily's doorstep, soaked to the bone and close to tears. Paige seemed to realise that she had said too much and she instantly clammed up, keeping her eyes glued on the road ahead and her fingers tightly wrapped around Thunder's reigns. The horse was in a similar mood to his owner and Emily felt every dip and hole in the dirt as the stallion trotted huffily along the road.

At least the horse's mood-swing had no effect on the weather; that was all Emily. She was tired and frustrated and the skies above her reflected her less than sunny disposition. Thick, heavy rain clouds were gathering above them and the first rumble of thunder in the distance had the highly strung horse spooked. "Easy." Paige tried to soothe Thunder's nerves, but they were quickly losing the daylight and the storm was coming in thick and fast. Emily wasn't sure if she was the sole cause of it, or if she was just making it worse. "We're going to have to find shelter." Paige didn't sound too happy about the prospect of finding somewhere to stay in the middle of the woods.

She knew there were a few caves nearby, but they would be cold and damp and offer little more shelter than then open road. They could persevere and keep heading towards the next town, but it would take them hours to get there if Thunder kept playing up. They would be soaked through and lucky to still be on the horse if the storm got any worse. Deciding she had no choice, Paige used her heel to nudge Thunder to veer left, heading off the little dirt road and in to the trees. Once they were deeper in to the woods the canopy of leaves overhead offered them some partial shelter from the rain.

Emily shifted closer against her and she could feel the other girl shaking with the cold. Shuffling around a little, with one hand still holding the reigns, she managed to pull her cloak out of one of the packs slung over the saddle. She offered it to Emily, who took it without any argument. She slipped the oversized cloak around her shoulders and then over Paige, fixing the broach in place to fasten it over her chest. The cloak had once belonged to Paige's father. It hadn't been his most expensive one and it wasn't elaborately decorated like some of his others had been; but the big thick cloak had always been a favourite of Paige's. Having it wrapped around her was like having her father holding her again.

Having Emily's arms wrapped around her felt pretty good too. It had been a long time since she had let anyone get so close; both physically and emotionally. "There are some caves just up ahead." Paige cursed at how cracked her voice sounded. Thankfully Emily hadn't picked up on it. The goddess' eyes were closed over and her chin was resting on Paige's shoulder.  
"Hmm." She mumbled, her breath tickling against the nape of Paige's neck. It was distracting to say the least.

The young warrior felt a sense of relief as they reached the nearest cave big enough for them to take shelter. She was able to slip down off the horse; putting some distance between her and Emily. She took a length of rope from out of her pack and fastened one end to Thunder's reigns and the other to a tree just beyond the entrance to the cave. She didn't usually have to take such precautions, but the storm had really spooked him. "Maybe Thunder wasn't the best name for him?" Emily joked as she sat petting the majestic creature kneeling beside her. The cave was too low for him to stand and he was too restless to lie down. The thunder outside was rumbling closer with every minute.

Paige managed a wry smile as she sat huddled over a pile of kindling, trying to get a fire going to help dry them off and warm them up. Once a small fire trickled in to life she sat back beside Emily and ran her hand trough Thunder's mane. He made a noise of appreciation and nudged her thigh with his head when she tried to stop stroking him. "For my tenth birthday, my dad told me I could choose any horse I wanted. I picked the biggest, hot-blooded, colt I could see."

"The one with the most attitude?" Emily smiled. She shuffled closer to her companion and draped the cloak back over both of them. It was easy to imagine Paige as a stubborn ten year old, insisting that Nick McCullers buy her the most challenging horse she could find.  
"The one with the hooves that sounded like thunder." Paige wasn't used to sharing such personal things with other people, but for some reason it was easy to confide in Emily. It felt like she was sharing the small part of her soul that hadn't shrivelled up with anger and hatred. "What about you? _Goddess of the water_? Have you ever had a horse? Or maybe a seahorse?" She teased lightly, enjoying the smile that played over the other girl's lips.

"I had a shark once." Emily nodded, biting at her lip as she stared down at the rising flames of the fire.  
"A shark?" Paige was sceptical as she watched Emily avoid her gaze. "What happened to it?"  
"I couldn't keep her…I guess I was too scared to try." The other girl swallowed hard. It was the closest she had come to discussing her and Paige's history; even if it was only in her head. She wanted to talk to the real Paige about what was going on between them, but she knew that she couldn't give the other girl what she needed from her. She wasn't ready to take that step again.

"Do you miss her?" Paige quizzed. She couldn't imagine ever letting Thunder go. The animal was the closest thing to family she had left.  
"So much." Emily admitted with a heavy sigh. She could feel her eyes welling up and she had to fight back the urge to sob. "I'm pretty beat. Is it ok if I try to get some sleep?"  
"Of course." Paige slipped out from under the cloak. Despite Emily's protesting, she would be fine sitting by the fire. "I'll wake you up when the storm's passed."  
"You won't leave me behind again, will you?" Emily felt bad for asking when she saw a flash of something on Paige's face. She wasn't sure if it was guilt or something else, but the other girl looked thoroughly chastised as she nodded at her.  
"I'm not going anywhere… I promise."

Despite the other girl's promise, Emily woke up alone. She was lying in her nice warm bed, rather than the cold hard floor of a damp cave, so she could forgive Paige for not being there; though that didn't mean she didn't feel a pang of sadness at waking up alone. Without really thinking too much about it, she picked up her cell and called Paige. As Emily glanced at the clock on her bedside table she realised it was barely six in the morning. The phone rang a couple of times before she finally picked up. "Hey Fields, what's up?" She sounded out of breath, rather than half asleep.

"Not much, I just wanted to tell you I had another dream last night and everything's fine. So I won't be in a mood with you all day again." She smiled as she heard Paige laugh on the other end of the phone. She was the only one Emily could confide in without getting laughed _at.  
_"Glad to hear I did the right thing…hey, are you up yet?"  
"I just woke up." Emily admitted, blushing a little as she realised Paige might think she was crazy for calling her about the dream as soon as she woke up.  
"Oh." She heard the disappointment in the other girl's voice and wondered why she had asked. There wasn't much to do in Rosewood at such an early hour. "I'm out running. I was going to ask if you wanted to grab some breakfast at the Grille?" _  
"_Why don't you come over? I could make us some pancakes or something?"  
"Ok, sounds great. I'll be over in ten."  
"Great. See you soon."

Emily hung up and instantly dived out of bed. She didn't have long to get ready and she needed a shower. She was just pulling on her jeans when she heard her mom letting Paige in through the front door. Quickly tying back her hair she went down to meet her, not wanting to leave her ex alone with her mom for too long. "Hey Emsy." Paige grinned as she caught sight of her coming down the stairs. Emily rolled her eyes at the use of her dad's nickname for her.  
"I'm going to find out what your dad calls you! I swear it!"  
"He calls me Paige…mostly." She shrugged, her smirk still fixed in place. Her dad did have a pet name for her, but she would be damned if she ever shared it with Emily. It was far more humiliating than 'Emsy' was. "So where are these pancakes you promised me? Some of us have been up long enough to _earn _breakfast."  
"And some of us smell like it." Emily shot back; getting in a jibe of her own that had Paige self-consciously sniffing at her running vest.

"I should have gone home and showered first." The other girl pulled a face, looking pretty adorable as she pouted.  
"I'm just teasing…but if you wanted you can go shower upstairs while I make the pancakes? You can borrow some of my clothes for school. That way I can give you a ride in and you won't have to rush breakfast."  
"Sold." Paige agreed. Pam showed her upstairs to the bathroom while Emily started on breakfast in the kitchen. She was whistling away to herself when her mom came in to help her. She tutted at the sight of her daughter trying to scoop egg shell out of the bowel she was mixing the batter up in. Taking over, she managed to whip up a batch of pancakes by the time Paige got out of the shower.

Leaving her mom to plate up, Emily went upstairs to check on her guest and to see if she needed any help in picking out some clothes. After knocking on her own bedroom door she slipped inside and found Paige standing in front of her closet. She was wrapped in a towel, with her wet hair pushed back off her face. She looked slightly bemused. "Need some help?"  
"Yeah. Did you know your entire wardrobe is varying shades of black, white and grey?" She teased. "I mean, where's all the pink? I can't wear any of this!" She crossed her arms over her chest like a toddler pulling a strop. Emily laughed as she walked over to the closet beside her. Deciding to call her bluff, she pulled out the pink dress that she had worn to the father-daughter dance last year. "On second thoughts…" Paige reached past her for a sky blue polo shirt and a pair of dark jeans. She dropped her towel, used to changing in front of the other girl. She was wearing her bra and panties under the towel, but Emily still found herself looking at more of Paige than she had expected. She discreetly busied herself by packing her bag for school, so she could give Paige some privacy whilst she got dressed.

"So what did I do in your dream to deserve pancakes?" Paige quizzed as she pulled on her borrowed polo shirt. "Did I take down A? Slay a dragon? What?"  
"I don't think there are dragons in the Rose woods. I'll have to ask…" Emily trailed off, feeling her cheeks burning with embarrassment as she realised Paige had been joking. It was hard for her to remember that the Rose Woods weren't a real place. For her, talking about what went on in the woods was like talking about her summer in Haiti. Her experiences felt just as real. Paige picked up on her unease as she caught Emily's expression in the mirror on her dresser. She quickly changed the conversation as she tied her hair up. She would let it dry naturally.  
"Let's go slay some pancakes!" She took the other girl's hand without thinking too much about it and dragged her out of her bedroom. Her good mood rubbed off on Emily and they were both laughing and joking by the time they reached the kitchen.

"You must have been out early this morning Paige. Don't your parents worry about you running on your own?" Pam asked. She was making conversation and prying at the same time.  
"I wasn't running alone. Kate was with me. My parents are still out of town." She shrugged like it was no big deal.  
"I thought they were coming back Sunday?" Emily had left Paige's house late Sunday afternoon, just before her parents had been due back. The other girl hadn't mentioned they still weren't home. She wanted to ask about Kate too, but Paige's parents seemed the safer option to go with.

"My gran got sick, so they're staying for another few days."  
"You're staying in that big house all by yourself?" Pam sounded appalled at the idea of the teenager fending for herself. Paige wasn't fussed about it. Her parents often took business trips or trips to see their family in Texas and Nebraska. She was used to being alone. "We can't have that! Why don't you come over for dinner with us tonight?"  
"Breakfast and dinner? Now all I need is my lunch." Paige joked. She was glad to see that Emily wasn't trying to get out of having her over.  
"I'll make you both some lunches." Pam cheerfully announced as she started clearing the breakfast table.  
"What? No, Mrs Fields, you really don't need to make my lunch-"  
"Nonsense, it's no trouble!" Pam brushed off her objections and began rifling through the fridge for something to put in a sandwich. She was in her element when she was mothering and she was happy to take the teenage girl under her wing. "Do you like turkey, Paige?"  
"Emily, seriously, tell your mom its fine!" Paige hissed in her ear, looking to her friend for some backup.

"I can't believe you let your mom make my lunch!" Paige protested as they climbed in to Emily's car. She'd borrowed a jacket from the other girl too, so she had her lunch in one hand and Emily's jacket in the other. Emily just laughed, like she had when Paige had turned to her for help in the kitchen.  
"You want to hope your parents come back soon, or she's going to end up adopting you!"  
"If she does, I'm totally stealing your room." Paige shot back.  
"Maybe my dad could start calling you Paigey?" Emily suggested, playing along.  
"Emsy and Paigey? We'd sound like cocker spaniels." Paige cracked up at the thought of it and Emily laughed right along with her. The good mood she'd been in since waking up was growing the longer she spent with the other girl. She felt good; almost normal. "Besides, I think it would be illegal for me to be your sister and-" Paige cut herself off and bit down on her bottom lip to stop herself from saying something stupid. She didn't want to cause any tension between them after such a great start to the morning. She wanted the smile on Emily's lips to stay right where it was.

She risked a glance to her left and found her fellow Shark was still in good spirits. "Maybe we should forget about the adoption idea; but next time your parents are out of town let me know, ok. I'd be happy to keep you company."  
"Thanks. I'll do that." Paige grinned back at her; silently wondering whether or not she could talk her parents in to taking a long vacation.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: As ever, thanks for reading and a big thank you to the people who are reviewing. I'm still pretty new to PLL so it's nice to have some feedback to know how I'm doing. I've got the next four or five chapters planned out so should hopefully be able to update pretty regularly.  
**

"So you told me you picked the biggest horse you could find, a warm blood or something?" Emily hadn't had a chance to talk to Paige about her dream over breakfast, and they'd never had a minute alone for the rest of the day, so she was finally filling her in on the drive home.  
"A hot blood." Paige corrected her. She was wearing a strange smile, something crossed between bemusement and curiosity. "It's funny. I don't remember ever telling you I could ride."  
"You can? I didn't know that."

"I'm a mystery." Paige laughed; though in all honesty she felt like an open book whenever Emily was looking at her. "My dad's folks have a ranch down in Texas. I think I was riding before I could walk. I entered a couple of rodeos, got a few ribbons." She shrugged it off, uncharacteristically playing down her achievements; like she though Emily would laugh at her for them.  
"That's sweet…does your dad call you his little cow girl?" Emily tried again to guess what Paige's dad's pet name was for her, but the other girl laughed it off.  
"Nope, keep guessing Fields." She smirked, enjoying how hard Emily was trying to guess her nickname. She was still trying as they walked through Emily's front door.

"Um, how about baby girl? Sugarplum? Honey pie? Pain in the a-"  
"Hi girls." Pam Fields surprised the teens as she emerged from the kitchen to greet them. Emily's cheeks flushed as she realised her mom could easily get the wrong idea about what she'd overheard. "Dinner won't be long."  
"Hi Mrs Fields." Paige nodded towards her, biting back a smirk as she watched Emily squirming under her mother's gaze. "Something sure smells good, is that meatloaf?" Paige had inherited her hot temper from her father, but some of his southern charm had also rubbed off on her and she had Pam beaming at her for the compliment.  
"Why thank you Paige, and yes it is. I hope you like meatloaf?"  
"My favourite."

"_My favourite._" Emily mimicked as they were on their way up to her room to study while they waited for dinner to be ready. She playfully shoved her with her shoulder.  
"It is!" Paige protested, shoving her right back before flopping down on to Emily's bed and making herself comfortable. She lifted her arms up behind her head, which in turn made her borrowed polo shirt rise up, revealing the smooth creamy skin of her toned stomach. Emily felt her own stomach doing somersaults at the sight of the other girl lying on her bed. Ignoring the butterflies in her stomach, she pushed Paige's legs aside so that she could sit down on her bed too. She started pulling her study books out of her bag as the other girl rolled over on to her side to face her, propping herself up on her elbow. Her gaze settled on something beside Emily's bed and as she followed her gaze Emily felt her chest tightening. A framed picture of her and Maya was still sitting on her bedside table. It hadn't really been a conscious decision on her part to keep it there; she just hadn't considered moving it.

Paige cleared her throat as she picked up one of Emily's text books in an attempt to end the awkward silence that had settled over them. "Let's blow off studying and watch a movie or something?" Emily was grateful that she hadn't drawn attention to the picture on her bedside table. It was like Paige knew exactly when Emily needed to talk to, as well as when she didn't. Rolling her eyes, she took her book back from her.  
"How about we study until dinner and afterwards you can pick a movie for us to watch? You do have that trig test tomorrow."  
"Don't remind me!" Paige groaned, warily eyeing her Trigonometry book. "I suck at Trig."  
"Know what helps with that? Studying?"  
"You're_ so_ funny Fields."

They sat studying in Emily's room until Pam called them down for dinner. Mr Fields was still out of town, so it was just the three of them at the dinner table. Pam made the usual parent small talk, asking them both about how school went and enquiring about their homework. Paige won the older woman over by offering to help clear the table before dessert, which just led to more teasing from Emily when they went back upstairs to watch a movie. "Doing the dishes? My mom really _is _going to try and adopt you." Emily laughed as she climbed on to her bed, letting the other girl look through her DVD collection to decide what they were going to watch.  
"Do you have anything that doesn't involve blood, gore and violence?" She quizzed, finding a lack of variety to Emily's movies.

"Sorry McCullers, I think I threw out my Disney movies a few years back."  
"Really? I've still got all mine." Paige grinned over her shoulder and Emily felt the corners of her mouth curling up in to an amused smile at the thought of Paige sitting down to watch _Snow White _or _Pocahontas. _"Yeah, I can't watch any of these and then go home to an empty house." Paige shook her head absently as she read the back cover of _Switchblade Romance.  
_"Why don't you to stay over?" Emily suggested, catching Paige off guard.  
"Oh, I wasn't suggesting…I mean…you don't have to…" She flushed, a little uncomfortable at the thought of spending the night in Emily's room.

"It's not like my mom will mind, she loves you remember?" Emily teased as she pushed herself up from her bed and grabbed her car keys. "We'll go pick up your stuff and you can impress me with _your _DVD collection."  
"Prepare to be wowed." Paige seemed to relax a little as they headed downstairs. After letting Pam know where they were going they drove over to the other girl's house so they could pick up an overnight bag for her. Paige left Emily downstairs in the living room while she went up to her room. She found herself fussing over which pyjamas to take and she was cursing herself when she still hadn't chosen anything after a whole five minutes of rooting through her dresser.  
"Hurry up McCullers, we don't have all night!" Emily called up to her, hastening her decision. She pulled out a pair of shorts and one of her old field hockey vests, deciding to stick to something safe rather than revealing. She picked up a change of clothes for the morning and on the way out of her room she grabbed her portable hard-drive off her desk, it had most of her movies on and she was sure she'd be able to find something on it that Emily would want to watch.  
"Ready." She called out as she reached the bottom of the stairs; just as the house phone started ringing. She answered it with her free hand, expecting it to be her parents checking up on her.

Sure enough, when she picked it up it was her dad. "Hey Dad, yeah I'm home. I'm actually just heading out though…I'm staying at Emily's tonight." Emily stood by the door waiting for her to finish. She wasn't sure what Nick McCullers thought of his daughter spending time with her. He'd had a pretty strong opinion regarding Emily's sexuality. She wondered what he would say if he knew they had history. "Yes, Emily Fields. Her mom says it's fine. How's Grandma doing? Oh, ok. Well give her my love… and I guess I'll see you guys Friday."  
"Your parents aren't coming back until Friday?" She quizzed. She hadn't meant to eavesdrop on the conversation, but it was pretty hard when she was standing right in front of her.

"Uh, yeah. My Gran's still not doing too good." Paige shrugged like it was no big deal. Emily couldn't imagine her parents leaving her alone in the house for a week. "Better not tell your mom, she'll be adopting me for sure." She joked, earning a smile from the other girl.  
"She'd probably move you in to my room."  
"God, you'd be sick of me in a week!" She laughed as she locked the front door and followed Emily to her car. Emily surprised them both as she caught hold of Paige's hand, stopping her in her tracks.  
"No I wouldn't." She let go of her hand as she brushed her hair back behind her ear. Things had suddenly grown pretty tense between them again. "I mean…I like spending time with you. I know I haven't exactly been the life of the party these last few weeks, but I'm doing better now…and that's mostly thanks to you."

"I didn't do anything." Paige insisted bashfully. "It's all you…You're stronger than anyone I know Emily."  
"I'm not the weakest link anymore." Emily agreed, though the other girl had no idea what she was talking about. Catching her puzzled expression she shook her head. "When A...I mean, when Mona was targeting us she went after me the most, because she thought I was the weakest."  
"She was wrong. You're not weak Em."

* * *

"Are you warm enough?" Paige asked as she pulled her spare cloak tighter around herself. She'd let Emily have the warmer one. "I can't risk building a fire and drawing attention to us." The caves were pretty close to one of the dirt roads that cut through the woods and she didn't want to alert bandits or A's troops to their whereabouts.  
"I'm fine." Emily insisted. She'd been nice and warm, wrapped up under her comforter watching a movie with Paige. At some point she must have fallen asleep, because she was suddenly sitting in a dank cave, huddled under a thick cloak.

"We'll stay here until first light; hopefully the rain should have stopped by then."  
"And then we'll go find Spencer?"  
"We'll try." Paige wasn't all that optimistic about finding the elusive fire goddess. "Nobody's seen her in a really long time, and from all accounts...she's a little bit crazy. There's no guarantee she can help us."  
"But we have to try." Emily's earlier conversation with the real Paige had sparked a fire inside of her. She was ready to take on A, to finally face up to the monster that had been terrorising her for almost two years. "I'm done running from A. I'm doing being scared."

"You know, a great man once said that courage isn't the absence of fear, it's the conquest of it." Paige shifted subtly closer towards the other girl. She could see that despite what she said the cold was getting to her. Emily was shaking under the cloak as she shuffled closer to Paige to keep warm.  
"Who said that?"  
"Olwyn, the first king of the Rose Woods. He led the first humans here two hundred years ago. He was a great warrior and a fair and just leader. The kingdom flourished under his rule; but one night he stumbled across the Fairy Hunt. It was being led by Arcasia, a beautiful young fairy princess with eyes the colour of honey and skin as soft as silk. He fell madly in love with her and he went back with the hunt to the fairy homeland, deep in the heart of the woods-"  
"There are fairies in the Rose woods?" Emily frowned sceptically.

"You're a goddess Emily. Fairies aren't that hard to believe in…besides, you're in this story too, so be quiet and let me finish." Paige chastised. Emily did as she was told, eager to hear the rest of the story. "As I was saying, Olwyn went with Arcasia. It was only one night, but time moved differently in the fairy world. He was missing for five years. When he returned to his palace, he found that one of his knights, Finlay, had taken over his kingdom. Now Finlay wasn't a fair man, he was a cruel tyrant who had led the people of the kingdom in to poverty and despair." Emily listened intently as Paige told her story, her eyes closing over as she listened to her voice.

"Olwyn tried to take back the throne, but Finlay refused to give it back. The kingdom was torn in two and it was on the verge of civil war. The day of the great battle, the two forces met by the lake at the heart of the woods. Now the lake was home to the goddess of the water; the most beautiful and benevolent of all the goddesses of the forest." Emily shot her a look and she watched as the young warrior blushed. "What? I'm telling the story exactly how my mom used to tell it! Anyway, usually the goddesses paid no attention to human matters, but the water goddess couldn't stand by and watch men kill each other. So she rose up from the lake and made the water rise high above the trees, creating an impenetrable wall and separating the two sides. She called upon her sisters and the four goddesses gave the two kings an ultimatum. They could either settle their differences and chose who would be king, or the goddesses would banish mankind from the woods forever. Olwyn was the first to speak up, fearing that his people would have to leave the land they worked so hard to make prosperous. He dropped to one knee and pledged his allegiance to Finlay."

"So the bad king won? What kind of story is that?" Emily frowned, unhappy with the outcome. Paige chuckled at her companion as she shook her head.  
"No. He didn't win. Olwyn was selfless. He put the needs of his people before his own, like a good king should. So the goddesses banished Finlay and they announced Olwyn as king of the Rose Woods. They promised that as long as his family were as noble and selfless as he was, they would protect his lineage and ensure that his bloodline kept the throne."  
"And did they?" Emily knew she was supposed to be the water goddess. She was supposed to know more than Paige, but she wasn't a two hundred year old goddess that lived in a lake. She was a teenager from Pennsylvania with a vivid imagination that had crafted an elaborate dream to deal with her psychosis.

Paige's expression hardened again as she lost her smile, as though thinking about the tale had opened up old wounds. "They did. Olwyn had a son to Arcasia. She left the fairy world for a mortal life with him and his son grew up succeed him as king. His family held the crown for two hundred years. They ruled the land fairly and they led the people to prosperity…until the goddesses turned their back on us, and A killed ended the royal bloodline." Emily didn't miss the accusation in her tone. She hated the way Paige was looking at her like everything that was wrong in the world was Emily's fault.

"I know you're angry and you're hurt because of what happened to your dad, but I don't remember-"  
"Quiet." Paige snapped, her frown deepening in to a scowl. Emily was momentarily stunned by the ferocity in her voice.  
"Paige-" The other girl clamped a hand over her mouth as the other went to the sword at her side. Emily's eyed widened in fear, unsure what she intended to do. Paige dropped her voice down low as she whispered in her ear. "Someone's coming."

* * *

Paige woke with a start as she heard a scream ringing in her ears. It took her a second to figure out where she was as her eyes focused on a room that definitely wasn't hers. She was lying in a bed, with something warm and soft pressed up against her side. _Emily_.

Emily was the warmth beside her and she was also the source of the screaming. "Em, what's wrong?" Paige's voice was thick with sleep and her eyes were still struggling to focus in the dark. Her hand found the small of Emily's back and the other girl flinched from the touch. Paige tried not to take it personally as she waited for Emily to calm down. "Em it's ok. It's ok." She soothed and began rubbing her hand in small circles against her back.  
"No it's not…" Emily shook her head, unable to shake the images she had in her mind. "They stabbed you…they…the blood…" Emily yanked back the covers as though expecting to find herself sitting in a pool of the other girl's blood. She was frantic and still half asleep, trapped between the waking world and the one in her mind. Paige grabbed hold of her arms, stopping her from thrashing about.  
"Whoa, Emily, I'm fine. Ok? Look at me Em! I'm fine!" Paige made her hold still and look at her. "I'm fine." She repeated in a softer voice as Emily's eyes seemed to finally focus on her.

She reached out for Paige's vest without warning, pulling it up a little to check on the skin just above her hip, where she had obviously expected to find a gaping wound. Her fingers grazed lightly over the skin and the other girl struggled not to react to her touch. "It was so real." Emily sighed, her head finding Paige's shoulder as her arms wrapped around her neck. Her body was warm with sleep and Paige was suddenly wide awake with the other girl pressed against her.  
"It was just a dream." She croaked out, hating how her own voice betrayed her. "It wasn't real. I'm fine." She subtly tried to shift so that they were lying back down, but Emily sat bolt upright again.

"I can't go back to sleep!" She insisted. It was barely 4am, but she couldn't face going back to sleep. If she slipped back in to her dream, back to Paige lying crumpled at her feet and bleeding from the deep wound in her abdomen…she just couldn't go back there. Paige has shushed her when she'd heard a noise outside the caves. She'd reached for her sword and had been ready for anything, but so had the two men that had walked in to the cave. They'd been thieves, just looking for a quick score and insisting that they hand over their valuables. Emily had been ready to give them anything, but Paige had refused to back down and when they'd gone for her sword she'd lost it. Going for the closest one she'd managed to land a blow that had made him drop his sword, but the other one had been quick to react and his own sword and plunged in to Paige's stomach, just above her hip. Her eyes had widened in surprise before her knees had given way and she'd dropped to the cold hard ground of the cave. Emily had reacted on instinct at the sight of the blood, dropping beside her and covering the wound with her hands.

"Come on then." Paige pushed the covers away and climbed out of bed, earning a disbelieving look from the other girl.  
"You don't have to get up with me. You can get some more sleep before school, I'll just go downstairs."  
"Forget it Fields, if you're up I'm up." She started pulling on her clothes and shot Emily an expectant look as she just sat there in her bed. "Get dressed. We can go swim over at my house, its warm enough outside." She knew Emily well enough to know that the water would calm her more than anything else could. Emily slipped out of bed, but instead of going for her clothes she made her way over to Paige, her hands going to her waist and her head resting against the other girl's chest as she hugged her again.  
"Thank you." She muttered right in to Paige's ear, but the other girl could barely hear a thing over the sound of the blood rushing to her head and her heart pounding in her ears. She was trying to do the right thing for her friend, but it was hard to set her own feelings aside.

Her eyes closed over as she felt Emily's fingers brushing softly against her side again, checking that there was definitely no stab wound there. Paige started to wonder just how real Emily's dreams were to her if she felt the need to double check her for injuries. She pulled away first, forcing herself to let go of Emily before she could do something stupid and risk their friendship again. "Ok Superstar, let's go. You need all the practise you can get this year if you want to beat my times." She teased, falling back in to their easy going rapport. The sooner she got out of Emily's bedroom the better; the teenager only had so much self-control and Emily Fields seemed to be able to use up most of it.


	11. Chapter 11

****

"Jesus Em, those aren't M&Ms." Spencer scowled as she spotted Emily popping caffeine pills. She recognised the packet from her many all-night study sessions. The other girl looked like she was running on empty as she sat at the lunch table with her head resting against the palm of her hand. "How many of these have you had?" She snatched the packet out of Emily's hand to inspect it.  
"A few." Emily shrugged. Her head was pounding and the noise of the packed cafeteria wasn't helping. It had been three days since she had dreamt about Paige getting stabbed and she'd barely managed to sleep for more than a couple of hours at a time since.

She didn't want to risk going back in to her dream and facing the possibility of losing somebody else that she cared about. "I've got a lot on. Between training and the make-up tests from last year…" She was still catching up on the work that she'd missed at the end of the previous school year because of Maya's death.  
"You don't look so good Em. You shouldn't push yourself so much." Spencer chided her. The hypocrisy wasn't lost on Emily. Out of all of her friends, Spencer Hastings was the most likely to burn herself out before graduation. "Maybe you should ease up on the training for a few days…Hey, McCullers!" She spotted Paige making her way across the lunch room with an empty tray and ushered her over.

"Spence!" Emily hissed. She'd been avoiding her fellow Shark for the better part of three days and had been making excuses whenever Paige tried to talk to her. She wasn't ready to talk to her. She kept asking about her dreams, but Emily wasn't ready to talk about what had happened in the cave. Paige had started to realise that and had backed off over the previous day, giving her the space she clearly needed. She looked apprehensive as she approached the table. She and spencer were definitely on better terms, but she was still wary of Emily's friends; they had after all once been Allison's little underlings.  
"Hey. What's up?"  
"McCullers, can you please tell Emily here that she needs to take it easy? She looks like she hasn't slept in a week!"  
"Three days I'd guess." Paige's eyes narrowed on the other girl accusingly.

"I said I'm fine! Can you all just stop fussing?" Emily snapped at the pair of them.  
"Em, we're just worried about you-" Hanna started, but Emily shot her down too.  
"Well don't! I'm fine! How many times do I have to say it?" She pulled her bag over her shoulder and stalked off. Spencer rose up from her seat to follow her, but Paige was already on her feet.  
"I got this Hastings." She chased after the other Shark, finally catching up to her in the hall. "Hey, Sleeping Beauty, wait up! I've got something for you."

"If it's a poisoned apple, then I'm not interested."  
"The apple was Snow White. You _so _need to brush up on your Disney, Fields."  
"What was Sleeping Beauty again?" Emily frowned, unable to recall the tale from her childhood.  
"Glass slipper." Paige supplied. Without missing a beat she added, "And before you ask, I didn't bring you shoes. Here." She pulled something out of her satchel and handed it over to Emily. The other girl was expecting a book on fairy tales or something, but Paige had managed to surprise her.  
"Dream Interpretation; Decoding your Dreams?" She scoffed at the title of the little paperback book. It was fairly well worn.  
"It's my mom's. She's pretty in to that stuff." Paige admitted, her cheeks colouring a little. "I know it sounds lame, but I've read through it and there's some useful stuff in there. Like, did you know that dreaming about being in the woods usually means you're in some kind of transitional period in your life?"  
"Wonder what that could be?" Emily rolled her eyes, though she had to admit her interest was piqued.

Paige ignored her sarcasm as she took the book back from her and started flipping through the pages, opening them on the ones that she'd helpfully marked with little multi-coloured post-it-notes. She'd clearly put a lot of effort in to reading the book and Emily was touched; it made the thought of going back to the Rose Woods without her in them all the more daunting. "Look here. Water: _'__To see water in your dream symbolizes your subconscious and your emotional state of mind. It is also symbolic of spirituality, knowledge and healing'_. And you said that all the water in the kingdom was polluted, because you supposedly died in it, right? Well the book also says that '_to see muddy or dirty water in your dream indicates that you are wallowing in your negative emotions. You may need to take some time to cleanse your mind and find internal peace'._" Emily would kill for some internal peace; or any kind of peace at all. Hell, she would be grateful just to be able to close her eyes without being terrified of what she might see.

"I think that's what the dreams are about." Emily admitted. Paige seemed to be the only person in her life who she could talk to about the crazy stuff without her thinking she was actually crazy. It was more comforting than she would ever be able to put in to words. "Coming to terms with everything that's happened over the last couple of years."  
"No offence Em, but you don't look like you're coping with anything right now. Hastings was right, you look exhausted. Have you actually slept since the other night?"  
"Not much." Emily admitted sheepishly. "I don't want to go back there and see…" He gaze unconsciously flitted to Paige's side, where she had last seen a knife sticking out of the flesh of Dream Paige.

"Em, it's just a dream. No matter what it means or what it symbolises, it's still just a dream. Nothing bad is going to happen to me if you close your eyes and get some sleep. I'll still be here when you wake up." Except she wouldn't be there with her. She'd be in her own house, sleeping in her own room, and Emily couldn't exactly ring her in the middle of the night to check she was ok if the worst did happen in her dream. Paige seemed to pick up on her unease without Emily having to say a word. "Tell you what; my parents don't get back until tomorrow. Why don't you stay over tonight? That way you can get a good night's sleep and if anything happens to me in your dream, I'll be right beside you to remind you that it's not real."  
"You don't have to do that Paige-"

"I want to." The other girl insisted as she pressed the book on dream interpretation in to Emily's hands. "I don't need a sword to keep you safe Em…oh, and FYI, do not look up 'sword' in that book."  
"Why not?" Emily flipped straight to the 'S' section despite the other girl's warning not to. The first part of the interpretation seemed to fit. Wielding a sword was a symbol of strength, ambition and a competitive nature. "Oh…phallic." She blushed as she read the other possible meaning behind the sword and snapped the book shut. She tried to hand it back to Paige, but the other girl refused to take it.  
"Keep it for now, it might help." She shrugged, hoping Emily would be able to find some of the answers she was looking for inside the symbolism of her dream. "Meet me after class and we'll swing by your house and pick up your stuff. Oh, and I'll drive. You look like you'd drive us right off the road!"

Emily made it through the rest of the afternoon, popping more caffeine pills and drinking _Mountain Dew_ to keep her going. She was yawning when she met Paige by her locker and she didn't even put up a fight as the other girl took her bag from her. After a quick stop at Emily's they headed over to Paige's house. Her parents were still away, so Paige parked the Toyota right on the drive. "Can I get some coffee?" Emily asked as she slipped off her denim jacket. Paige had insisted on carrying her overnight bag inside the house and she set it down at the bottom of the stairs.

"Nope. No caffeine for you Fields!" She shook her head even as Emily pouted at her from across the hall. "I'm going to make you some camomile tea while you get in to your PJs. We'll order a pizza, watch some movies and then you're going to sleep! Now hop to it!"  
"You're so bossy." Emily shook her head, her lips curling up in to a smile. It felt nice to have someone fussing over.  
"I think you'll find the correct term is ballsy." Paige shot back with a smirk as she ushered her up the stairs. By the time Emily changed and came back down Paige was waiting in the living room with the herbal tea she had promised.

She held up two brightly coloured DVDs for the other girl's inspection. "Snow White, or Sleeping Beauty?"  
"You pick." Emily laughed as she took a seat beside her on the couch. Paige chose one at random and popped it in to the DVD player before settling back on the couch. Emily watched her out of the corner of her eye as the pair of them spent the afternoon watching Disney films. It was easy to be alone with Paige. There was no pressure on them when nobody else was around and Paige didn't push her to talk about anything. They sat in a comfortable silence, enjoying each other's company.

Emily was trying her best to stay awake, but she was dog-tired and it was a struggle just to keep her eyes open. As well as the herbal tea, Paige had cranked up the heating, making Emily feel all the more lethargic. They'd barely made it on to the second movie when she finally gave in and nodded off. It seemed like within seconds of closing her eyes she was back in that dank cave in the woods. Paige was kneeling in front of her, staring in shock at the knife protruding from her stomach. There was blood seeping out from the wound, but the knife was acting as a plug, preventing her from bleeding out.

In the first few moments of being back in her dream, everything seemed perfectly still, peaceful almost, but then one of the men was moving in on them and the world around Emily exploded in to a symphony of sounds. Emily was screaming, the younger of the two men was shouting at his partner in crime for stabbing Paige and the older man was shouting right back at him. Paige was silent. Her jaw was set in pure determination as she fought through the waves of pain shooting through her side. Her sword had fallen to the ground when the man's knife had plunged in to her abdomen and reaching down for it felt like the biggest challenge of her young life. Her fingers had wrapped around the handle before either man had noticed.

The younger one shouted out a warning, but Paige used what little strength she had left in her to push herself up to her feet and drive her arm forward, running the length of the blade through the older one's chest. Emily screamed again, this time at the sight of the heavyset man dropping to his knees and gurgling blood from his mouth. His young companion fled from the cave without looking back as Paige pulled her sword out. The blow had gone straight through the man's chest, piercing his heart. He was dead before he hit the ground.

Paige stared at his lifeless body with a grim sense of satisfaction. It didn't last long though. Her knees buckled and her sword slipped from her hand as she slumped to the ground. "Paige!" Emily finally broke free from her paralysis as she rushed to break the other girl's fall. She fumbled, unsure of what to do about the knife still buried deep in her stomach. She was pretty sure the blade was stemming the blood. Taking it out would be a bad idea. She wrapped a rag around the handle, securing it in place until she could get her some help. Paige tried to get back up to her feet, grunting with the effort. "You have to keep still, the knife could go deeper and…" Emily faltered. "Just stay still, ok? I'll get some help-"

"No, you have to stop the kid. If he tells anyone…if A finds out I'm alive…" Paige was panting with the effort it took to choke her words out. Her skin was deathly pale and her eyes were unfocused as she struggled to keep them open. The blood was steadily soaking through her tunic. She'd taken off her armoured leather vest when they'd settled in the cave for the night. Had she been wearing it, the knife might not have gone in so deep.  
"If I don't get you to a doctor then A won't have to worry about you being alive for much longer!" Emily snapped, anger taking over her fear and kicking her in to action. Real or not, she wasn't about to lose her.

"I don't want to die." Paige's admission came out in a hoarse whisper as she finally took in just how bad her wound was. "I didn't care before…I was ready to go down fighting…but not now. Not since you…" Paige trailed off as her eyes rolled to the back of her head. She was going in to shock. Emily had to act fast. She left Paige lying on her back as she coaxed Thunder over to her. It took some persuading, but the horse was an intelligent animal, it seemed to know Paige was in trouble. She got him to kneel down, which made it easier for her to get Paige on to his back. She was only half conscious and it was an effort to get her in to the saddle. Emily sat behind her, carefully wrapping one arm around her waist to avoid the blade, while she used her free hand to take the horse's reins.

As she left the cave she had no idea where to go. All she could do was follow the dirt road that they had been on earlier and hope it would lead her to a town with a doctor. Paige was leaning back against her, her head resting on Emily's chest as her breath came out in short shallow rasps. "It's going to be ok, just hang on Paige. Hang on for me, ok?" The road was rough and uneven. Every bump seemed to go right through Paige, the pain ripping through her side and jolting her awake. Emily wasn't all that comfortable either, with Paige's heavy broadsword hanging from her waist and digging in to her every other second.

Paige was still hanging in there when Emily first noticed the lights up ahead. After what seemed like an eternity they had reached a town. The warm glow of the candlelight in the windows beckoned them closer and Emily got Thunder to speed up. She wasn't exactly sure what the equivalent of putting her foot down was with a horse, but she managed to get it moving faster.

"Help! Somebody help us!" Emily started screaming at the top of her lungs as soon as she got close to the outskirts of the town. It was late and the streets were empty, but her shouting soon roused a few of the residents. They poked their heads out of doors and windows to see what all the commotion was about. "I need a doctor! Somebody help us!" She just managed to stop the horse in the town square, narrowly avoiding a man who was dressed in some sort of cavalier's uniform. He looked like a man of authority and his eyes narrowed on the two girls on the horse as he took told hold of Thunder mane, steadying the horse. Emily stared right back at him, her stomach curling at the sight of the familiar face of Detective Wilden.

"What's going on here?" He demanded, his free hand resting on the hilt of the sword at his side. Emily's first instinct was to run from him. There was no way Wilden could be in her dream and be a good guy. The cop had some kind of silver star pinned to his uniform, like a sheriff. He seemed to be in charge, with the small crowd in the square looking to him to take control of the situation. Despite her wariness of the detective, she had to get Paige some help. She wouldn't make it to the next town.  
"She was stabbed. She needs a doctor-"

"We don't have a doctor here." Wilden's tone was short and sharp as he kept his beady eyes on Emily, as though trying to figure something out. She felt her heart sink. Without a doctor Paige wouldn't make it through the night. She tried to remember what the other girl had promise her before she'd fallen asleep; that she'd be there waiting for her when she woke up no matter what happened. Her words were of little comfort when the girl she cared so much about was lying against her chest, fighting for her life. "We've got a faith healer though; she might be willing to help." Paige needed a lot more than a prayer.

Wilden and another man moved to get her down from the horse and Emily followed behind as they carried her across the square and towards one of the little houses. It was in darkness as Wilden pounded on the door. When its occupant finally answered Emily got another shock as her own eyes landed on the vacant unseeing eyes of the faith healer. "Jenna…"

The blind girl's head snapped towards the direction of Emily's voice. She didn't get a chance to ask how Emily knew her name, or who she was, as Wilden barged his way in to her house, carrying an unconscious Paige like she was a ragdoll. "Miss Marshall, these girls want your help. This one's been stabbed." Wilden lay Paige down on the wooden dining table in the corner of the room. Jenna made her way straight over to them, confident in her own surroundings. The wooden house was small, but the joined kitchen and living area were minimally furnished and free from clutter, making it easier for the blind girl to manoeuvre her way around. Her fingers ran over Paige's stomach until they brushed against the blade sticking out of it. It was still wrapped in cloth, though the rag was soaked through with Paige's blood.

Wilden carefully unwrapped the binding that held the knife in place. When he pulled it out Paige let out of wail of agony, though she was still completely out of it. She was slipping away as Emily watched, helplessly. There was nothing she could do about it. The sheriff pressed the already bloodied rag against the wound, trying to stem the bleeding. Emily frowned as she watched Jenna just standing over Paige, doing absolutely nothing.

"Can you help or not?" Her voice came out harsher than she had intended, but she couldn't help it. She felt helpless. She had spent the better part of three days fighting her sleep in order to avoid watching Paige die in front of her.  
"I can." Jenna replied like she had all the time in the world; like a stranger wasn't bleeding to death on her table. "For the right incentive." There was no doubt she was talking to Jenna Marshall. Emily's fists clenched at her sides as she struggled to keep her cool.

"I don't have any money." Everything Paige owned was on the packs slung across Thunder's saddle; she had seen her with a purse full of coins, but she had no idea what they were worth, or whether it would be enough for Jenna to help them. "Please, you have to help her…"  
"I don't have to do anything." Jenna shot back petulantly. "Do you know how I lost my sight?" Emily's guts twisted at the question. She knew _exactly _how Jenna had lost her sight in the real world; she could only imagine what had happened to her in the Rose Woods.

"I was a little girl when I first realised I had the gift of healing the sick. I could put an end to all of their pain and suffering…but at a cost. Taking away their pain took away my sight. Slowly but surely, I began to lose my vision. So I stopped helping people… That is, until a man brought a girl to my house in the middle of the night. She was dying." Emily didn't care. She didn't want to hear about some other dying girl. She only cared about Paige, and getting her the help _she _needed. "She was pretty far gone. Healing her cost me what was left of my sight."

"So why'd you do it? Why help that girl and not Paige?" Emily demanded.  
"Leverage." Jenna seemed to falter as she turned back to Paige. She let one of her hands run across the top of her leg. Her brows knitted in concentration until she seemed to find what she was looking for. Emily had no idea what it was, but she had to get her to help. If Jenna really did have the power to heal Paige, then she was their only hope. A vase of flowers on the table caught her eye, the roses were sitting in murky brown water.

"What if I could give you something useful? Something that could give you leverage?"  
"What could you possibly offer me?" Jenna sounded intrigued as she took over pressing the cloth against Paige's wound. Wilden was staring at Emily too, waiting expectantly.  
"Clean water." Emily offered. "The people in town would be pretty grateful if you got their water supply cleaned up, don't you think? Take me to wherever your water comes from and I'll fix it."  
"That's impossible." Wilden snapped. "The goddess died in our lake, it's the most polluted water in the whole kingdom and only the water goddess can-"

"Done." Jenna announced, pulling her hand and the bloody cloth away from Paige's stomach, revealing perfectly smooth skin in her wake. "She'll be fine in a couple of hours when she sleeps it off. Wilden can show you the lake in the morning."  
"Thank you." Emily had never expected to feel so grateful towards Jenna Marshall, but as she rushed to Paige's side and found her wound completely healed, she had the overwhelming urge to throw her arms around the blind girl. She didn't have time to dwell on the fact that she had just learnt where she had supposedly died at the hands of A.

"I'll come by first thing." The sheriff seemed perturbed, but he was doing his best not to show it as he gave Emily a curt nod and let himself out.  
"I'm going to bed. There are blankets in the chest over there, help yourself." Jenna made to move towards a door on the far wall, presumably her bedroom, but Emily stopped her with a hand on her arm. She pulled back when Jenna stopped dead and glared at her.  
"Thank you again, for helping her and for letting us stay here."  
"It's not like I had much of a choice." The other girl remarked dryly. "There's not much to steal and the Sheriff has your horse, so…" She shrugged, not really needing to finish as she retreated to her room.

Emily walked over to the blanket chest and pulled out two thick woollen blankets. She wrapped one around herself and draped the other over Paige, who was still lying on the table. Emily took a seat on one of the rickety wooden chairs beside the table, to keep watch over the sleeping girl. She felt her own eyelids growing heavy and she was once again fighting to stay awake. She kept a silent vigil over her until Paige finally began to stir. As the other girl let out a low groan Emily let out a breath she had been holding ever since she had been stabbed. "Hey." She smiled with relief as her friend cracked her eyes open.

"Where are we?" Paige groaned and shifted so that she was sitting up with her back against the wall. The wound was healed over, but she'd still lost a lot of blood and her side felt tender and painful.  
"I have no idea." Emily admitted sheepishly. She had just followed the road to the closest town. When she told Paige this the other girl didn't look happy with her.

"That means we're in Bridgewater." She spat the name of the town out like it left a foul taste in her mouth. It was the last place she had wanted to take Emily. "So Jenna's probably responsible for this." She pressed a hand to her side, where her shirt was ruined but her skin was untouched.  
"You know her?" Emily had noticed that Jenna's attitude had changed when she'd mentioned Paige's name. She'd thought it had been because of her offer to cleanse the town's water, but the more she had thought about it the more certain she was that Jenna had been healing her even as Emily suggested the trade-off. She felt completely out of the loop, unable to see the bigger picture. It was a feeling she was used to, but that didn't make it any easier to deal with. Underneath her fear and apprehension there was also a hint of jealousy. Jenna had seemed pretty familiar with Paige's body as her hand wandered along her thigh.

"Two years ago she saved my life." Paige's answer threw Emily for a moment, but it didn't take Emily long to put the pieces together.  
"Ezra brought you here after A stabbed you? That's why A thinks you're dead, because you _couldn't _have survived it." Paige nodded slowly, trying to minimize the pain in her side by limiting her movements. Her eyes closed over again as she tipped her head back. Panic shot through Emily as she feared the worst, but it turned out Paige was just composing herself before continuing. There were tears filling her eyes as they finally landed on Emily again.

"Two years ago I hated Ezra for saving my life. I wanted it to be over. I just wanted the pain to stop… but tonight, when I thought I was dying, all I could think was _I can't leave her._"  
"I thought I'd lost you too." Emily admitted quietly as she sat down on the table top beside the other girl. She ducked her head as she stared at the stone tiles on the floor. "I was so scared of losing someone else…of losing you." She looked up as she felt Paige squeezing her hand, but whatever she had been about to say was lost as Paige ignored the pain in her side long enough to lean forward and kiss her.

The kiss was unexpected, but not unwelcome. Emily gasped as the other girl's hands found her hips and tugged her forward until she was pressed right against her, sitting on her lap. She was used to Paige being bold, but even for her the action was ballsy. Emily's arms wrapped around her neck on instinct as she kissed her back, finally giving in to the attraction she had been fighting for so long. "Paige…"

* * *

"Em? Emily?" The dark haired girl shot up, her heart pounding in her chest and her eyes wildly scanning the unfamiliar room that she had been sleeping in. She felt hands on her arms and she jerked away violently. "Hey, hey, it's ok. Em, it's ok. It's me. You're safe." Paige held on to her wrists to stop Emily from bolting in her confused state. She thought she was panicking because of something bad that had happened in her dream; she had no idea that Emily had been muttering her name in her sleep for a very different reason.

The memory of Paige's lips pressed against hers was seared in to Emily's mind, and not just from her dream. How long had it been since they had last shared a kiss? She thought of that night outside the Grill, when Paige had misunderstood her attempt to hug her and had leaned in to kiss her. Walking around town with the other girl looking for sponsors for the team had been a good day. It had been one of the last times Emily had felt almost carefree. She had been glad to have Paige back as a friend, but her trying to kiss her had blurred the lines of their already strained friendship and Emily hadn't been ready to deal with her feelings towards the other girl. She had been too preoccupied with finding Maya.

Paige was sitting too close to her. They were still sat on the couch and the other girl was pressed right up against her, looking at her with those big brown eyes of hers full of concern. It was too much. Emily couldn't look her in the eye, her gaze kept dropping to her lips and she had to clench her eyes shut to stop herself from doing something stupid. It was easy to kiss Paige in a dream. Her actions had no real consequences there; but if she kissed her in real life, if she took that plunge and admitted there was something more than friendship there between them then she would have to be ready to face the very real consequences. Everything would change.

"It's ok." Paige repeated softly, pulling Emily out of her inner turmoil. Her eyes opened slowly as she felt Paige's hand on her cheek. She softly rubbed the pad of her thumb over her cheek, smiling patiently at her as she waited for Emily to calm down. The other girl's gaze dropped to her lips again as she contemplated just how easy it would be to lean forward and kiss her. Paige spoke before she could move. "God, Em, I hate this so much." She let out a heavy sigh; causing Emily's to snap out of her daze. She couldn't put Paige through another game of hot and cold. It wouldn't be fair on either of them. Suddenly Emily realised Paige was still caressing her cheek and the urge to flee washed over her again. "I'm sorry Em, but I can't stand this."

"Paige, don't…" She started, thinking the other girl was talking about the two of them.  
"I hate seeing what Mona has done to you!" Paige ignored her pleas for her to stop talking. "I hate seeing you like this and not being able to do a damn thing to help!"  
"You help." Emily insisted. Paige had no idea just how much having her around helped. She gave in just a little bit and let Paige's arms wrap around her as she pulled her in close. It felt like she was the one thing keeping Emily together and she knew she couldn't risk what they had by telling her what had happened in her dream.

"Do you want to talk about it? Your dream?" Paige clarified as Emily looked blankly up at her. They were still curled up together on the couch and Paige had subtly shifted so that they were lying back down. Emily's fatigue had quickly returned and she felt her eyes closing over as she lay with her head against Paige's chest, listening to the steady beat of her heart. For the first time in days she actually wanted to go back to sleep.  
"No." She muttered back. She was grateful when Paige didn't push it any further; she wasn't sure she could lie to her.

**A/N:** **Once again thanks for reading folks and the feedback people have been giving me is awesome, and much appreciated! I've got a few days off work coming up next week so I'm hoping to try and get through at least the next two or three chapter that I've got planned out.**


	12. Chapter 12

"Nice work Katie, you almost beat our Superstar here!" Paige clapped the younger swimmer on the back as she climbed out of the pool after taking on Emily and one of the other juniors in a 500m race.  
"Almost." Katie agreed breathlessly. She wrapped her towel around her waist as she pulled off her swim cap. "I just wish it was because I was getting faster, not because Fields is slowing down." Paige was glad to hear she wasn't the only one who had noticed Emily was struggling. It had been almost a week since Emily had stayed over at her house and she had barely seen or heard from the other girl. Emily always seemed to have a reason not to be able to hang out and Paige was starting to think it was personal. It felt like she was avoiding her; and it hurt.

Emily looked over at Paige and Katie talking by the side of the pool and felt her stomach twisting in knots. She couldn't deny the jealousy she felt at seeing Paige leaning in close to the other girl, her attention completely held. Ever since Paige had kissed her in her dreams it had opened the floodgates. Emily had to be honest to herself; she still felt something for Paige, something a lot stronger than friendship. She had done her best to stay away from Paige until she knew how to react to those feelings. Her luck ran out though as Paige collared her after she'd finished changing in the locker room. "Hey Fields, could you give me a ride home? My bike's got a flat tyre."  
"Sure." She couldn't exactly say no, given everything that Paige had done for her.

"So…want to tell me what I've done to piss you off, or am I supposed to guess why you've been ignoring me all week?" Emily had to hand it to the girl; she could be pretty direct when she wanted to be. They were sitting in Emily's car, though she hadn't even had a chance to start the engine before Paige had ambushed her. She sighed as she slumped back in her seat, letting her hands drop from the wheel.  
"I'm not ignoring you Paige. I've just had a lot on this week."  
"Is it the dreams? Are you still having them?"

"No. I'm not." Emily was telling the truth. She hadn't gone back in to the Rose Woods since Paige had kissed her. That was partly why she had been so irritable and moody all week. She hadn't had a single dream and it was bothering her. She needed to go back. It was like being in the middle of watching a good movie and having a power cut. There were so many things she needed to know. From why Jenna had protected Paige, to where Spencer was hiding and if she really could help Paige take down A.  
"Are you still not sleeping?" Paige didn't sound annoyed anymore. Her voice was filled with concern as her hand settled on Emily's shoulder. It just made it all the more harder for Emily to ignore the ache inside her chest. She wanted to tell Paige everything. To admit that she had missed her more than anything through the week and avoiding talking to her was killing her; but she still hadn't made up her mind about what she was going to do.

"Yeah, I'm sleeping plenty." She was sleeping whenever she could, trying to find her way back in to her dreams. She didn't feel any better for all the sleep she was getting though. If anything she was feeling worse. She felt like she was totally run down and heading in for flu or something. Her head was pounding and her whole body ached from pushing herself in the pool; though her results had been less than spectacular. "I'm just not having the dreams anymore."  
"Isn't that a good thing? I know they were bothering you." As Paige was rubbing her friend's shoulder she picked up on just how hot her skin felt. The girl was definitely feverish. "Are you ok? You're really hot, maybe you should go see a doctor?"  
"I'm fine. I just need to get home and lie down."  
"Don't you have work today?"

"My boss gave me a few days off. I'm just going to take the weekend and work on feeling better."  
"Sounds like a plan." Paige agreed, trying to hide just how worried she was about her. "But if you're not feeling any better by Monday go see a doctor, ok? I need you fit and healthy for next weekend."  
"What's next weekend?" Emily frowned. She didn't remember making any plans.  
"I'm taking you riding." Paige announced like it was the best idea she'd ever had. Emily didn't share her confidence. She thought of all the nights she'd spent with her arms wrapped around Dream Paige while they rode Thunder. She couldn't imagine making it through a single afternoon of holding on to Paige that tightly; but the other girl was looking at her expectantly so she forced a smile.  
"Sounds great."

She had hoped to be able to go home and sleep once she dropped Paige off, but a call from Hanna had her driving over to the blonde's house. Ashley was away at some fancy dinner with the bank and Caleb was at his mom's house for the weekend, so Hanna was all alone and wanting company. Emily had lived at her house for months, so it felt like second nature to walk through the front door and hang her coat up on the stand in the hallway. She'd stopped by for some takeout on the way over and she took it straight in to the kitchen. "Han, I got us some food!" Emily called out but didn't get an answer from the other girl. She picked up a knife from the stand on the counter and called out again. After endless months of being stalked and toyed with, fearing the worst was a hard habit to break.

She let out a sigh of relief and placed the knife back down as Hanna finally called down to her from upstairs. "Is that you Em? I'm just getting out the shower, I'll be a sec."  
"You shouldn't leave your door unlocked while you're in the shower." Emily chastised the blonde as she padded in to the kitchen five minutes later. Her hair was still damp and she'd changed in to her pyjamas. The girls had been friends for years and Hanna wasn't bothered about slumming it in front of the girl she'd shared a bedroom with.  
"Relax Em, it's not like A's going to come calling is it?" Hanna picked up one of the cartons of Chinese food and helped herself to what was inside as she perched on a stool by the breakfast bar. "That bitch is locked up in Radley."

"For how long? What if she gets out?" Emily voiced one of the niggling doubts that had been eating away at her for weeks. "What if Mona gets out and she comes after us again?"  
"Is that what's been bothering you these last few weeks? Because I know something's up with you; and don't try and deny it! Caleb told me that Paige told him you've been weird with her too."  
"It's not that… Those two are getting pretty close." Emily replied dryly, not exactly happy that her friends had all been talking about her behind her back.  
"Tell me about it. They have this little bromance going on… wait, is it still a bromance if Paige is a girl? Should I be worried?" Hanna's ramblings managed to draw out a laugh from her friend.  
"I don't think Caleb's her type Han."

"He does have long hair though, and he's kind of girly in a pretty boy way." Hanna mused.  
"Maybe Caleb should be the one who's worried." Emily teased, laughing again as Hanna simply shrugged.  
"Paige is hot. I don't think I'm her type though. I'm not _you._" Emily lost her smile as the blonde hit a sore point. "What's going on with you two anyway? Are you getting back together or what?"

"I don't know." Emily admitted honestly, needing to talk to someone about what was going on between her and Paige. "When Paige and I first got together everything was different… she was different. She wasn't ready, but now she is and I'm…I'm not."  
"Do you still care about her?" Hanna tried to press her to talk.  
"Of course I do. We have this thing between us... Paige calls it a connection. I don't think it ever really went away, I just got good at ignoring it; but lately it's been getting harder. I can't fight it anymore."  
"Then why try? I've seen how she is around you Em. Paige is completely devoted to you. Why fight it? If she makes you happy then why not just go with it?"

"Because I don't want to screw her up. She's worked so hard to become this amazing person and I'm terrified that I'm going to break her." Emily choked out as tears started falling down her cheeks. She had been holding everything in for so long that once the crying started she just couldn't stop it. Hanna put down her dinner to wrap her arms around her friend, soothing her as she choked on weeks of anger and frustration. Once Emily had finally calmed down Hanna moved over to the freezer and returned with a carton of ice cream and two spoons.

"If you want my advice Em, go for it. Paige didn't change for no reason. She changed to show you that she was ready. She's nuts about you, but she won't wait forever. Make a move before someone else does." Emily nodded in agreement with her friend. She knew Hanna was right. Paige wouldn't wait for her forever. One day she would realise Emily wasn't worth the wait, and she'd find someone else; someone like Katie.  
"I'll talk to her… first thing Monday morning. I just need the weekend to get my head in the right place."  
"I think she can wait that long." Hanna smirked as she dipped her spoon in to the large tub of Ben and Jerry's.

"About what we were talking about before, do you really think Mona will get out? I mean she's practically catatonic at Radley…so I've heard." She added hastily before Emily could question her about it.  
"Maybe." Emily shrugged. She had no idea what the authorities would do. Mona had been declared insane and sent to Radley, but there was a possibility she wouldn't be in there forever. At some point the monster would get out; but 'A' had been unmasked. "I'm not scared of Mona. That's all she is now, she's not A anymore. She's not some shadowy figure lurking in the darkness... She's just a girl, and I'm not afraid of her."

* * *

"Emily? Hi." The teenager looked up from her coffee cup to find Dr Sullivan smiling down at her. She was spending her Sunday afternoon in the Brew, catching up on her homework and making the most of the free employee coffee.  
"Dr Sullivan, how are you?" She shifted her bag from the seat in front of her to let the doctor sit down. She hadn't seen the woman since the night Mona had been unmasked as 'A'; the night Maya's body had been found.

"I'm good thank you. How are you doing?" She sat down with her own coffee, giving Emily that patient professional smile of hers as she waited for her to answer.  
"Fine. I'm doing fine." Emily forced a smile, but she had taken a beat too long to answer. The doctor looked sceptical.

"You know, you and your friends went through a lot with Mona. If you ever feel the need to talk about it-"  
"I don't." Emily snapped. She'd had enough of talking after her parents had found out about all the stuff A had been putting her and her friends through. Everybody wanted her to talk, whether it was about A, or Maya, or Paige. She was sick of talking. "Sorry, I just…that stuff's in the past now. I'm moving on with my life. We all are."  
"Alright, but the offer's always there if you need it. I know you and your friends are close, but sometimes it's nice to have an outsider to talk to."

"I have someone." Emily managed a genuine smile as she caught sight of Paige walking in to The Brew. She had thought long and hard about what she and Hanna had been talking about Friday night. She was ready. "It was nice seeing you again Dr Sullivan." She slipped out of her seat and pulled her bag over her shoulder, heading straight over to Paige. "Hey stranger." She joked, catching her off guard. Paige looked like she'd been caught with her hand in the cookie jar as her eyes widened at the sight of Emily in front of her.

"Em…hey…what are you doing here? I thought you had the weekend off?" She looked flustered and nervous as she looked around the coffee shop, like she was looking for someone in particular.  
"I'm having coffee… Are you ok?"  
"Never better. I've got to go." She snatched her order from the guy behind the counter and made to walk out the door. Emily caught her wrist lightly.  
"Hey, do you have a minute? I need to talk to you about something." The other girl looked torn as she discreetly glanced down at her watch.  
"Not really. Sorry Em, we'll talk tomorrow ok?"

"Ok…" Emily watched her go, completely bemused by her friend's sudden skittishness. If it were anyone else she would have said they were trying to give her a taste of her own medicine, but Paige wasn't like that. Sighing, Emily turned back to look at Dr Sullivan. Trudging back over, she slumped down on to the seat she had just vacated. "Ok, so maybe I do need someone to talk to… but not about what you think. Can we talk somewhere more private?"

They moved down the block and in to Sullivan's office. It hadn't changed much in the few months since Emily and the others had last been in it. She took a seat on the plush leather couch, wringing her hands together as she waited for Sullivan to take her seat opposite her. She wasn't sure where to start with everything that was going on in her life. "Take your time. Talk when you're ready." Sullivan gently coaxed her as she reached for the pitcher of water sitting on the desk between them.

"I've been having these dreams." She finally started to open up to her. "Only they're not like dreams. They're more real than that. It's like when I close my eyes I go somewhere else."  
"And where do you go Emily? These dreams, where do they take you?" Sullivan spoke softly and patiently, letting Emily take her time in answering.  
"It's a place called the Rose Woods. It's so big, like the trees never end."  
"And is this a good place? Do you feel safe there?"  
"I think it was a good place; before A got there."  
"So you're dreaming about A? Mona can't hurt you or your friends anymore, you know that right Emily?"  
"I know…but she's still there, in my head."

"What does Mona do to you in these dreams? Does she hurt you physically or make threats?" The doctor began writing notes on a pad out of habit and Emily grew uneasy. She wasn't there for counselling. It was supposed to just be a chat. Noticing the teenager's unease she put the pad back down and apologised. "Sorry, occupational hazard. Please, continue."  
"I haven't actually seen A in my dreams yet. We're getting ready to fight her."  
"We? Who is it who's helping you?" The doctor expected it to be the other girls. She knew from experience just how close the four of them were, so she wouldn't have been surprised if Emily was dreaming that her friends were helping her to take on her nightmares. She was surprised when Emily said the name of a girl she'd never heard before. "Paige? I don't think you've mentioned her before. Why don't you tell me a bit about her?"

Emily spent the rest of the afternoon talking to the doctor about her dreams, how she was coping with Maya's murder and her relationship with Paige. The older woman listened patiently, letting her speak and only interrupting when she wanted her to go in to more detail. "Then she kissed me and I woke up at Paige's house…for a second I didn't know I was awake. I couldn't tell." Emily shook her head at the memory of how confusing it had been the last time she'd woken up from her dream. "I haven't gone back there since."  
"To your dreams, or to Paige's house?" Sullivan quizzed. She had been listening closely to what Emily had been saying and she was starting to see a pattern.  
"Both." Emily answered. She still felt guilty about avoiding Paige all week and the other girl rushing off from the Brew was playing on her mind.

The older woman sat back on her seat and crossed one leg over the other as she scrutinised the teenager. "Emily, have you considered that your dreams might not strictly be about A?"  
"What else could they be about?" Emily frowned. As far as she could see the meaning of her dreams were pretty damn obvious. She was on a quest to take down A; there was nothing else the dreams could be about.  
"When you were describing the dreams you didn't mention 'A' all that much. It was all about Paige; about her rescuing you, needing your help, abandoning you, kissing you…have you considered that these dreams might actually be about you struggling with your feelings for this girl? You haven't had one in over a week-"

"Not since we kissed." Emily was starting to see where she was going with her theory. "You think that the dreams are about Paige, and I haven't had another one because I've figured out how I feel about her, is that it?"  
"Perhaps." Sullivan agreed. "If you've resolved the underlying issue that was causing the dreams then you might not have another one." Emily wasn't sure how to feel about that. The prospect of never going back to the Rose Woods left her feeling empty somehow, like she'd lost something important. She was jolted from her thoughts when her cell went off, alerting her to a new text.

A few months ago a simple text would have had her on edge, worrying about what A's next move against her would be; but she'd meant it when she'd told Hanna that she wasn't afraid anymore. That was how she knew Doctor Sullivan was right. "Paige?" The doctor guessed the sender of the text correctly from the torn expression on Emily's face. She nodded her head as she read through the message.  
"She said she's sorry for running out on me earlier and that we can talk tomorrow."  
"What are you going to say to her?" Sullivan asked, curious as to what the teenager was going to do as she watched Emily's eyes fill with tears.  
"I don't know." She shook her head. "I guess I've just got to tell her the truth. I can't be her friend; I need more than that."


	13. Chapter 13

"Hey McCullers, answer your phone already! I'm going to the pool to get some practise in, so if you get my message in time, and you're not too scared of a little competition, come meet me." Emily chuckled in to her phone. It was early, but she felt better than she had in weeks. She'd slept through the night and had woken up before her alarm had even gone off. She pulled her warm-ups on over her costume and drove over to the school, hoping that Paige would meet her there. She wanted a chance to talk to her alone and the pool seemed like the best place. Nobody else would be there so early in the morning.

When she pulled in to the school parking lot she spotted Paige's bike chained to one of the stands by the front door. It looked like McCullers had already beaten her to the pool. Sure enough, when Emily walked out on deck in the natatorium she found Paige already gliding through the water. She so was completely absorbed in what she was doing that she failed to notice she had an audience. She was on top form, cutting through the water like a shark that could smell blood. Emily stripped down to her costume, dumping her bag and her warm-ups on the bleachers. She took a seat on one of the starting blocks and watched the other girl go. Her form was perfect and her turns were tight. She'd probably spent most of her summer in the water. Emily had been in Haiti working on a community housing project, the physical labour had been great for her fitness, but she hadn't spent as much time in the water as she would have liked.

"Are you just going to sit there are all day Fields?" Paige grinned up at her as she leant against the side of the pool. She'd finally noticed Emily's shadow on the water and had stopped to find out who was watching her. "Or are you getting in with me?"  
"I don't know McCullers, think you can take me?" Emily challenged, enjoying the slow smirk that spread over Paige's lips.  
"Any day Fields; Get your ass in here and I'll prove it."  
"I don't know. Maybe I should I let you practise some more…hey!" She giggled as Paige grabbed at her leg, trying to pull her in. "Quit it! I'll fall."  
"Then I'll catch you." Paige replied matter-of-factly, like it was the easiest thing in the world to promise.

"Paige, I need to tell you something-"  
"Yo, McCullers! Fields! Great minds think alike!" Emily struggled not to curse out loud as she heard Kate hollering over at them. She was with a few of the other sophomores. It looked like her chance of talking to Paige alone had just passed her by.  
"Hey guys, anyone up for a game of tag?" Paige was good with the younger girls and she knew the best way to motivate their training so early in the morning. Emily didn't feel all that motivated as the other girls piled in to the pool.

"Where you going, Em?" Paige frowned as she watched Emily climb down from the starting block.  
"I just remembered I have a thing. I'll catch you later." She made her excuses and grabbed her bag from the bleachers to go and get changed out of her costume. She was just buttoning up her jeans when she heard someone coming up behind her. She turned to find Paige eyeing her warily.  
"This thing you suddenly had, it wasn't just avoiding _me, _right?"  
"Of course not. We're good…more than good." Emily pulled on her vest and let her hair down. "Paige, I-"  
"Hey McCullers-"

"Jesus Christ." Emily muttered under her breath and shook her head as one of the freshmen popped her heads in to the locker room to call for Paige. "Can you meet me for lunch? I need to talk to you. Alone." She added as she glared at the poor freshman.  
"We can talk now if you want. I can-"  
"It's fine. The girls want you." Emily insisted. She tried not to laugh at the irony of that as she slung her bag over her shoulder. "I'll see you at lunch." She stepped forward, pressing a kiss to the other girl's cheek before she could chicken out.

Paige's eyes almost popped out of her head. "Is it lunch yet?" She called after her once she'd recovered from the initial shock, making Emily laugh over her shoulder. Her grin was stretched from ear to ear as she watched her go. It was the longest morning of Paige's life as she waited for lunch to come around. She caught sight of Emily in the halls on her way to and from classes, but she had to wait until lunch to actually talk to her. She was waiting for Emily as she came out of Biology. The other girl's face lit up as she spotted Paige leaning against the lockers beside her classroom. Aria was with her so she made an effort to acknowledge her too.

"Hey Aria. Hi Em, want to grab some lunch?"  
"Nope." Emily surprised all of them by taking hold of Paige's hand and tugging her along with her. "Catch you later Ar." She tossed a wave over her shoulder as she headed for the main doors leading out to the parking lot. She had been waiting to get Paige alone all morning and she wasn't going to waste any time on going to the cafeteria before having the talk they so desperately needed.

"Where are we going?" Paige laughed, amused by Emily's strange antics. She let go of Paige's hand to dig out her car keys and unlock her Toyota. Paige took the hint and climbed in to the front seat as Emily got in the driver's side. They sat there in silence for a few moments while Emily stared out over the steering wheel. "Are you ok? You're acting a little weird." Paige was growing tense with the silence. When Emily had kissed her cheek that morning, after insisting they needed to talk, she had let her imagination run away with her. She was starting to worry that she'd gotten her wires crossed somewhere down the line, but Emily made a bold move that left her with little doubt about what was going on.

Leaning over without warning she pressed her lips against Paige's, ambushing her with a kiss just as Paige had done to her the year before. The other girl was surprised, but she didn't let that stop her from kissing Emily back. She had been dying to kiss her ex for weeks, but she had been fighting her own feelings in order to respect Emily's. Em had kissed her first though, opening the flood gates. Paige couldn't hold back anymore. She kissed her back like her life depended on it. Her hands went to Emily's cheeks as she cupped them, pulling the other girl in closer to her.

They were both breathless by the time they pulled apart, though they didn't move very far; as Paige titled her head just slightly she was able to graze her lips against Emily's, eliciting a promising sigh. "I've wanted to do that for so long." Paige admitted with a soft laugh. Emily didn't say anything back; she just stared at her with an almost blank expression. Paige started to worry again. "Em, say something, you're freaking me out-" She was cut off again as Emily leant in for another kiss. The second time their lips met was different from the first time. Emily's lips were softer, almost hesitant. She wasn't looking to make a point; she was trying to reinforce one.

"This would have been easier in the back." Emily muttered as she lay with her head resting against Paige's chest. The other girl's arms were wrapped around her and her lips were hovering by Emily's ear. They had been sitting like that for half of their lunch period, though they hadn't managed to get much talking done.  
"Hmm, you maybe should have let me in on your plan to ambush me in your car; it might have made the logistics a little easier." Paige chuckled in her ear, the husky sound setting off a wave of butterflies in her stomach.

"Would you have followed me if I'd told you what I was planning?" Emily teased, lacing her fingers through Paige's.  
"I'd follow you anywhere." Paige's lips found the column of her throat and the butterflies turned in to a tingling that spread right to her toes.  
"We still need to talk." Emily sighed. She was happy to finally be with Paige without needing to close her eyes first, but she didn't want to rush in to anything. They'd already made a mess of things once. "Can you come over after school?"  
"Uh…I have a thing. It'll only take an hour or something, so I can come over later and we can talk…and maybe kiss some more."  
"Maybe." Emily laughed as she sat up and checked her watch. "Come over whenever you're done. I'll be up."

They spent the rest of lunch in the car before finally separating to go to class. "See you soon." Emily went to press another kiss to Paige's cheek, but she turned her head and caught her lips instead. They were by the main doors and it was coming up to the end of lunch, but there were still a few students milling around to see them. Emily felt a swell of pride in her chest. A year ago Paige wouldn't have even made eye contact with her in the halls, now she was kissing her for the whole world to see.

Emily was practically glowing as she made her way to her afternoon classes. "Someone looks happy." Spencer pointed out the obvious as Emily took the seat beside her in English. Aria was sitting at the desk behind Spencer and she leant over to get in on the conversation.  
"Where did you and Paige go for lunch? We didn't see you guys in the cafeteria. Hanna wasn't in either; it was just me and Spence."  
"Paige and I just needed to talk about some stuff. I haven't seen Hanna all day. She must be skipping." Emily shrugged; it wasn't exactly unheard of for Hanna to take a sick day over a broken nail or a bad hair day.

"What did you and Paige need to talk about?" Spencer quizzed, bringing the focus back on to Emily. "Was it your smeared lipstick by any chance?"  
"What?" Emily pulled out her phone to check her lipstick in the reflection of the screen. It was only as Spencer and Aria started cracking up that she remembered she hadn't put any on that morning. "Very funny guys." She rolled her eyes at them as she tucked her phone back in to her pocket.  
"So are you two back on then?" Spencer carried on probing.  
"That's kind of what we need to talk about." Emily admitted. She didn't really want to go in to it too much with her friends until she and Paige had talked things through later that night.

After class she was all set to go home and get some studying done before Paige came over, but a text from Hanna messed up her plans. _'SOS! Come over after school, need to talk!' _Emily frowned at the message. They hadn't had to use the SOS signal in weeks, not since Mona had been carted off to Radley. It didn't look like Hanna had text either of the other girls, just Emily. Something was definitely up. Sighing, she called Paige to let her know she might be more than an hour herself, but she didn't pick up. As she walked outside she spotted her bike was already gone. She tried calling again once she was inside her car, but this time she heard Paige's ringtone going off beside her. She put her own phone down on the dashboard and allowed it to carry on ringing as she ran her hand down the back of the front passenger seat. She pulled out Paige's cell with her number still flashing up on the screen. She couldn't help but laugh at Paige's caller ID. She had Emily down as '_Superstar'_ in her phone. Pocketing both phones, Emily tried to figure out how she could let Paige know she might not be at home within the hour. If Hanna's drama was something serious then it could end up taking a while.

She spotted Caleb walking past her car, with his beanie pulled down low and his headphones on. He tossed her a casual wave as he walked past and Emily suddenly had an idea. "Hey Caleb! Wait up!" She waved at him to stop and he got the message. He started walking back over to her car as Emily climbed out. "Hey. You don't happen to know where Paige is going after school do you? We're supposed to be meeting in an hour, but Han text me to go over to her house after school and Paige left her cell in my car so I can't get in touch with her to tell her." Emily knew that Paige and Caleb were close; she figured it was worth a shot asking him where she would be.  
"I think she said she was meeting Sean at the Brew? You could try there? Oh and when you see my girlfriend could you ask her to try answering her phone once in a while. She didn't show up for classes and she hasn't answered any of my calls, though clearly she can call you."  
"I'll do that. Thanks." Emily promised. She really hoped that Hanna wasn't sending SOS texts and skipping school because she and Caleb were fighting or something.

She got back in her car and drove over to the Brew. She spotted Sean through the window as she was parking up. It looked like he was alone at his table, but it was possible that Emily had beaten Paige there if the other girl had stayed behind in class or something. She wasn't sure why meeting Sean would be so important that Paige hadn't been able to cancel and go straight to Emily's house with her, but she supposed she had pretty much sprung everything on her at short notice. Maybe they were study partners or something.

"Hey Sean, is Paige meeting you here?" Emily walked straight over to his table with Paige's phone in her hand. Hanna's ex looked a little startled by her greeting.  
"Hi Em. No, Paige isn't meeting me. She's here with that girl over there." He pointed over to a table by the back where an attractive young black woman sat alone with two cups of coffee in front of her. "At least she was a minute ago, maybe she left already?" Emily felt her insides wrenching. Paige had delayed coming over to her house to a meet a girl for coffee. Hoping it wasn't what she though, she made her way over to the table to approach the mystery girl. She looked around Emily's age, but she hadn't seen her around Rosewood High before.

"Hi, excuse me, but are you here with Paige McCullers?" Emily greeted her with what she hoped came off as a pleasant smile. The other girl looked up from her coffee, her eyes raking over Emily in a way that suggested she was far from straight. The pain in Emily's chest grew tighter as she confirmed she was.  
"I am. I'm Shana, and you are?" The young woman's scrutiny had Emily on edge and she almost stumbled over her name.  
"E-Emily… I'm Emily. I'm a friend of Paige's. She left her cell in my car so I just came to drop it off for her." She wasn't sure why she was explaining herself to a total stranger, but the way Shana was staring at her was pretty intimidating.  
"Of course you're Emily." The girl replied rather cryptically as her eyes ran up and down Emily's body again. "Well Paige isn't here yet, but you can leave the phone with me." She held out her hand expectantly, her directness stunning the other girl. Emily felt an instant dislike towards her, though most of that was due to Shana being mysterious and attractive, and clearly gay, and meeting Paige for coffee.

"Maybe I should wait to give it to her. After all I don't really know you." Emily stood her ground, crossing her arms over her chest to show she wasn't going anywhere.  
"Suit yourself." Shana shrugged, giving in surprisingly easily. "Of course I've told Paige she should introduce me to her friends already. I guess she just wants me all to herself." A cruel smirk spread over Shana's lips and Emily felt her defences crumbling.  
"What are you talking about? Who are you?"  
"I told you, I'm Shana…I'm Paige's girlfriend."

The cell phone dropped to the table as Emily's worst fears were confirmed. She didn't wait around to hear any more. By the time she got back to her car she could barely see through the tears streaming down her cheeks. She had let Emily kiss her, knowing full well that she would be meeting her _girlfriend _afterwards_. _She hadn't waited. "Why is my cell here?" Paige frowned as she caught sight of her phone sitting on the table in front of Shana.  
"Your friend left it here for you. Now, what was her name again-"  
"Emily." Paige felt her stomach drop as she realised Em had met Shana. "Fuck… What did you say to her?"  
"Nothing." She tried her best to sound sincere, but Paige could see the devilment in her eyes.  
"What did you say?" She growled out for a second time. She had been working hard on controlling her temper, but if anything could set her off it was somebody messing with Emily. Fields had been through so much already, Paige didn't want to be responsible for piling on any more grief.

"Relax Paige; I didn't say anything to her. She introduced herself, I introduced myself and then she left. You know, you really should let me meet more of your friends-"  
"We're not dating anymore Shana! When are you going to get that through your head? I only agreed to meet so you'd stop calling me!"  
"Come on Paige-"  
"No! I don't want to hear it Shana! I'm done being nice, so just stop calling me!" She snatched up her phone from the table and stormed back out of the Brew. She had to get in touch with Emily and find out exactly what Shana had said to her.

* * *

"I'm sorry." Paige apologised breathlessly, her arms were still wrapped around Emily's waist and she couldn't help running her hands under her shirt, caressing the skin on her back. Her actions were completely contradicting her words as she apologised for kissing the other girl.  
"Don't talk. I'm done talking." Emily snapped as her lips found Paige's a little more forcefully than she expected. She'd gone straight home from the Brew and had ignored her mother's questions about why her cheeks were stained with tears. Paige had tried to call her three times on her way home. She had ignored each and every call before finally sending her a text telling her not to come over. Emily had turned her phone off after that and climbed in to bed.

She'd woken up back in the Rose Woods, sitting on Paige's lap and kissing her like she had never been gone. Paige had pulled away first, trying to apologise for kissing her. "I've wanted you since that first day in the woods. I just…I couldn't let myself give in. It's been so long since I've cared about anything other than taking down A…you make me weak and I can't be weak. Not when I'm this close to taking down A-" Emily silenced her with another kiss, letting her lips linger until Paige started kissing her back.

"You make me stronger." Emily admitted with a sigh. She had already lost Paige once; she didn't want to lose the last connection she had to her; even if it was all in her head. "Do you know anyone called Shana?" she asked, unable to help herself. "No…should I?" Paige frowned, not quite able to keep up with the strange girl. She'd apparently said something right though, because Emily pulled her in for another searing kiss before resting their forehead's together with a contented sigh.  
"No. You definitely should not."

**A/N: So I'm probably going to have a lot of angry Paily fans after that chapter, but in my defence I'm only halfway through this fic, there's still a lot to come; and the benefit of having two versions of Paige in one story is that there's more than one way to get some Paily ;) **


	14. Chapter 14

Emily was pretty sure she had fallen asleep on her arm. She could feel it beneath her, as well as a warmth pressed against her back, yet as she shifted to get comfortable she didn't start to feel the pins and needles running through her arm that she would have expected to feel if she had slept on it. She tucked both of her arms underneath her head to use as a cushion, but she still felt that arm beneath her. Slowly she peeled her eyes open, trying to figure out what she was lying on. She was met with the sight of the inside of a small rustic cottage. There was a fire still smouldering in the hearth, providing enough light for Emily's eyes to adjust to almost darkness. The thick woollen curtains at the windows were pulled shut, though it didn't look like it was quite light outside.

She was still dreaming. It felt so disorientating to wake up and know she had been sleeping within a dream. Her whole body felt stiff from spending the night sleeping on a table and she had to stretch out to try and shift the crick in her neck. Paige stirred behind her, letting out an incomprehensible mumble as she draped her arm back over Emily's stomach. Her lips found Emily's neck as she started planting slow and lazy kisses against the side of it, letting the other girl know she was awake. "Morning." Paige let out a contented sigh, sending shivers running up and down Emily's spine. She could get used to waking up beside the other girl.

"Good morning." Emily carefully manoeuvred to roll over and face her without falling off the table they had used as a bed. She brought their lips together, offering her a good morning kiss that started to turn in to something more as Paige pulled her in closer, running her hands under Emily's shirt.  
"Don't let me interrupt ladies." Emily jumped, startled at the sound of Jenna's voice from behind her. She would have fallen off the table altogether had Paige not grabbed hold of her shirt.

"We won't." Paige shot back and Jenna didn't need to be able to see to hear the smile that was playing on her lips. She tried to pull Emily back against her, but the other girl was uncomfortable around Jenna. She sat up, adjusted her shirt and then slid off the table. Paige followed suit, moving a lot more fluidly than she had the night before. There was still a large rip in the fabric of her tunic, from where the knife had gone in her side, but the skin beneath was smooth and unmarked. "Thanks for healing me. I know how much it must have cost you." She thanked their host as she moved to pick up her sword and holster. Emily had made sure to keep the precious sword by her side the whole time Paige had been unconscious, knowing how important it was to her.

"Which time?" Jenna snapped coldly, sounding more like the Jenna that Emily knew. She had every right to be hostile though. She had lost what was left of her sight in order to save Paige the first time and the young woman hadn't even wanted to live. It had Emily questioning why she would have done it in the first place. She was pretty sure that Jenna would have had her own motives for helping. She didn't seem to do anything without the right motivation.  
"Jenna, I know I'm in your debt-" Paige started, holding her head high and her back straight as she addressed the blind woman, looking as regal as a knight.  
"No, I was in your father's. I settled that debt the night I saved you from death. It's your girlfriend who owes me for last night. She promised to cleanse the water. I suggest she keeps her side of the bargain, or else Wilden will have her head."

"What the hell did you promise?" It seemed the honeymoon period was over as Paige turned on Emily with a glare. "Youcan't touch their water! If you do you might as well just go and present yourself to A right now! She'll kill you Em…again." Her voice softened as her anger gave way to fear.  
"No she won't." Emily sounded certain as she ignored Jenna's presence all together and spoke directly to Paige, slipping her hand in to one of hers with a reassuring squeeze. "Because this time I've got you watching my back."  
"Please don't do this Emily." She begged, unable to shake the trepidation that she felt deep in her bones. She couldn't face the thought of losing her. "What happened to taking her by surprise?"  
"We'll still have you as our secret weapon. Even if she knows I'm alive, she won't be expecting you; and maybe if we get it out there that I'm alive it could bring Spencer out of hiding. Maybe she'll find us."

"And maybe A will come and slaughter us all in our beds." Jenna chipped in with a false cheeriness that had Emily grinding her teeth. She hadn't asked for her opinion.  
"Well if she does you'll be the last to see it coming." Emily snapped at her. She already had her work cut out persuading Paige to agree with her, she didn't need Jenna weighing in too. "I made a deal to save your life and I'm not going to go back on it! It's time we took the fight to A! I'm tired of running scared from that bitch!"  
"Alright." Paige finally relented. She had to admit she liked the idea of finally making a move on A. "We'll get Wilden to take us to their water source. I just hope you know what you're doing."  
"Me too." Emily gave her a timid smile. She didn't know whether she was doing the right thing or not, all she knew for sure was that she was tired of letting A rule her life.

Once they were ready they slipped out of Jenna's cottage. The sun was still hanging low in the sky and a light fog had settled over the village. Despite the early hour the town square was bustling, from the market traders already setting up their stalls to the groups of children running around and giggling. They all seemed to stop and stare as the girls emerged from Jenna's house. Hushed whispers began to stir up within the crowd as all eyes settled on Emily. It felt more intimidating than her first swim meet in front of the whole school. She felt Paige's fingers lace through hers, giving her the confidence she needed. Cutting through the crowd they made their way over to Sherriff Wilden. He was leaning against a huge stone well in the middle of the village, with his arms folded over his chest and an amused smirk playing on his lips. "Come on then _goddess._ Work your magic." He stepped aside with a grand sweeping gesture of his arm. He didn't believe for one minute that Emily was who she said she was.

Emily let go of Paige's hand as she stepped closer to the well and peered over the side. There was a foul stale smell that punctured the air around it. The stone walls of the well were covered in thick green slime that Emily didn't even want to think about as she pulled on the rope to bring up the water bucket. The full bucket was heavy and the rope bit in to her skin as she struggled to pull it up. Once the wooden bucket emerged from the inky depths below she found the source of the smell. What had once been water was now a thick brown sludge. Emily wasn't really sure what she was doing, so she just went with her instincts. Taking a deep breath she plunged her hand in to the bucket as the entire village watched with rapt attention. Nothing happened.

Wilden sneered down at her as his hand went to the sword at his side and two of his deputies moved in towards them. He'd proven she was a fraud and he had every intention of hauling her straight before A to make an example of her. Their queen would not be happy that some girl was going around claiming to be the water goddess; that kind of thing could easily fan the flames of revolution and his queen would not stand for that. "Wait!" Emily pleaded, her eyes widening at the sight of Wilden's drawn sword. Paige stepped in between them, pulling her own weapon and staring the sheriff down as she growled at him.  
"Give her a damn minute!"

The sheriff nodded to his men to stand down as he returned his sword to its holster. He would give the fraud more time to seal her own fate. "You can do this." Paige moved in closer and pressed her hand against the small of the other girl's back as she kept her eyes on Wilden and his men. If it came to it they could fight their way out, but Paige would rather they didn't have to risk their lives again so soon; Jenna wouldn't save her hide a third time. Emily nodded, steeling her nerves as she tried to block out everything around her. She closed her eyes and tried to focus solely on the water, on making it clear, but stray thoughts kept crossing her mind. From meeting Shauna to the memory of Paige's hands running under her shirt as her lips softly caressed her neck…

"She's done it!" Someone on her right called out, startling her eyes open. As she looked down in to the bucket she  
saw her fingers moving freely through the crystal clear water. Murmurs began to rip through the crowd and Wilden could sense the unrest building. If the girl really had cured the water then she really was the water goddess; the one the queen was supposed to have killed. It would not sit well with her subjects to find out the goddess was alive and well. He had to get a grip on things before they got out of hand.

"One bucket of water is not going to fix our well!" He moved in, pulling his sword again at the same time as his men moved towards the well. Emily dropped the bucket out of freight as she watched Wilden's sword flying down towards her, only to be met halfway as it clashed against Paige's own. The bucket hit the bottom of the well with a splash before sinking in to the sludge. Seconds later the ground around them began to shake. Emily clung on to the well to keep her on her feet as Wilden and half the villagers fell over from the force of the earthquake. Paige held her own, staying on her feet and continuing to use her own body as a shield for the goddess.

Emily could feel the stone bricks of the well vibrating beneath her fingers. Her touch seemed to be making it worse, so she risked letting go and stepping back against Paige. Within seconds a geyser of water shot up in to the air like fireworks on the fourth of July. The eruption of water carried on flowing impossibly higher until it seemed to disappear in to the clouds. Eventually the water began to fall back down, soaking the village in a cleansing rain. Paige stared up at the tower of water with a mixture of awe and trepidation. "I think that's going to get her attention."  
"A's or Spencer's?" Emily quizzed, still amazed herself by what she had managed to do. She had felt her own power vibrating through the stones of the well and soaking in to the water.  
"I don't think it matters."

* * *

Emily's second awakening that morning was nowhere near as pleasant as the first. She'd overslept and had rushed about getting ready. She'd left her hair tied back and skipped breakfast and had still ended up arriving after the second bell. At least it meant she didn't have to speak to Paige as she rushed past her to get to her homeroom. She's found a couple of missed calls on her phone when she'd woken up, but even if she'd had time to call Paige back she still wouldn't have done so. She was still mad at her for not being honest with her about seeing someone, for letting her kiss her and pour her heart out to her when she knew full well that she would be meeting her girlfriend later. Emily still couldn't wrap her head around what had happened between them. Paige wasn't a player. She wouldn't try and play Emily off against another girl, it just wasn't her style.

She knew she would have to talk to Paige about it, to find out what was really going on, but she just couldn't bring herself to face the other girl. She kept her head down between classes and pretended she didn't hear Paige calling her name as she headed for her car at lunch time. She was avoiding the rest of her friends just as much as she was avoiding Paige, so she'd decided to grab some lunch off campus. She just needed some time to herself to think things through. She joined the line of people waiting to be served in the Brew and nodded towards one of the guys she worked with. By the time she got to the front of the queue he'd already made her regular coffee order.

Her stomach felt too queasy for her to attempt to eat anything, so she just paid for the coffee and went looking for a seat. She stopped in her tracks as she caught sight of Hanna. The other girl hadn't turned up for school again, yet she seemed fine as she sat on one of the couches at the back, picking at muffin and reading a glossy magazine. "Han?" Emily walked up to her. Hanna looked up at her like she'd just been caught redheaded, which since she was playing hooky she technically had been. "Why haven't you been in school?"  
"Uh…I was avoiding you." The blonde answered honestly, unable to think of anything else to say. Emily felt a flash of hurt as she frowned at her so called friend.  
"Me? Why?"

Hanna was at a loss for what to say to her, which was a first for the teenager. She glanced nervously over Emily's shoulder and tried to discreetly shake her head, but Emily caught her and turned around to see who she was looking at. Her stomach dropped as she caught sight of Spencer and Aria walking towards them. "I guess we don't need to discuss how we're going to tell Em after all." Spencer quipped, making Emily all the more suspicious.  
"Tell me what?" She demanded. "What the hell is going on?" They hadn't had any secret meetings since before Mona had been taken to Radley. Emily instantly feared the worst. Had they let Mona out? Was that why Hanna was hiding out? Why would she tell the others and not Emily though? None of it made sense. She stared Spencer down as she waited for someone to answer her question.

It was Hanna who spoke up though; she placed a hand on Emily's arm and looked up at her with wide pitying eyes. It was the same look she had given her the day of Maya's memorial and she felt her stomach twisting. "It's Paige…we think she's part of the A team." Whatever Emily had been expecting to hear, it hadn't been that. She couldn't even begin to process what Hanna had just said to her.  
"What are you talking about?" She let out a nervous laugh as she looked around at the other girls. "This is a joke right? A really _bad_ joke?"  
"We're so sorry Em-" Aria started but Emily didn't want to hear it. She didn't want to hear how sorry they were. She wanted some answers.

"Paige is not part of the A team! Mona's in Radley and Paige would never…she wouldn't…" She desperately looked to Hanna to back her up, but the blonde couldn't meet her eye.  
"I haven't been in school because I've been avoiding telling you this until I was sure, but Paige is on it. She's with Mona." Emily's first instinct was to protest again, to defend Paige against her friends, but she knew that interrupting Hanna would get her nowhere. She needed to hear what they thought they had on her.

"I've been visiting Mona at Radley over the summer, trying to get her to tell me why she did all of those things to us. When I went to see her last weekend she already had a visitor, so I went to get a coffee and when I came back an hour later I saw Paige leaving Radley."  
"That's it?" Emily snapped. It was hardly definitive proof that Paige was their mortal enemy. "She could have been there to see anyone!"  
"I checked the register, she'd signed in to see Mona and she used her real name… At least I was using a fake one."  
"That was smart." Spencer acknowledged, though she quickly fell silent as Emily glared at her.  
"So she went to see Mona one time, that doesn't mean-"  
"Three times." Spencer corrected. "I asked Wren. He remembered her because she's the only other visitor that Mona's had…Paige told him she was a friend of Mona's. I'm sorry Emily, but you have to face facts. A was more than just one person."  
"Just look at the time Hanna and Mona were out of town riding and A grave you that creepy massage…I can kind of see Paige volunteering for that mission." Aria pointed out, getting nods of agreement from Hanna and Spencer.

"No." Emily shook her head as she got to her feet. There had to be another explanation for why Paige had gone to see Mona at Radley. Paige had had her problems, nobody could dispute that, but Emily refused to believe that she was anything remotely like Mona. Paige McCullers simply didn't have that kind of evil inside of her. "You've all got this wrong!" She turned her back on the other girls to storm out.  
"What are you going to do Em?" She heard Spencer calling after her but she didn't stop to answer her. She was going to do what she should have done in the first place, what she should have done when she'd met Shauna and she'd revealed she was Paige's girlfriend; she was going to go and ask Paige for the truth.

Lunch was halfway over by the time she got back to the campus. She'd tried calling Paige but the other girl hadn't picked up. Emily knew exactly where to find her. She headed straight to the natatorium and sure enough she found Paige in the water. She knelt down by the edge, waiting for her to surface. Less than a day ago she had sat been sitting by the side of the pool and watching Paige cut gracefully through the water, determined to tell her how she really felt. It was amazing how much had changed between them in such a short space of time.

It felt like everything was falling apart; it was a familiar feeling between the two of them, and not for the first time Emily found herself wondering where they would be if she and Paige had made things work the first time around. Would Maya be dead if she'd never come back to Rosewood to see her? Would her friends trust Paige enough to know that she couldn't possibly have anything to do with A? Would she be dreaming about the other girl almost nightly if she had her to herself every day?

Paige reached the side of the pool and pushed her swimming goggles up on top of her head as she offered Emily a wry smile. "Not going to push me under, are you?" It was meant as a joke to break the ice. She knew something was wrong. Emily had been all over her the day before, but after meeting Shauna she hadn't answered her calls or even acknowledged her all day long.  
"We need to talk." Emily replied dryly, she didn't sound anything like she had the last time she'd said that and Paige was pretty sure that 'talking' wasn't going to end in them kissing again. She pulled herself up out of the water and took a seat beside Emily, already fearing the worst.

"What did I do?" She asked, genuinely confused as to why Emily was suddenly acting so weird around her. Shauna had refused to tell her what she'd said to her and Emily hadn't answered her calls, so Paige was still in the dark about what her two exes had said to one another. "Is this about Shauna, because-"  
"Did you go and visit Mona at Radley this weekend?" Emily didn't want to hear about Shauna. It didn't matter whether Paige was seeing her not if she was working with A. Paige ducked her head and Emily felt a lump forming in her throat; It was her tell. So she had gone to see Mona. "Why?" Emily choked out, fighting back tears as she demanded an explanation. She didn't want to cry. She wasn't the easy target that she had been when A had first started tormenting them and she was determined to prove that as she fought to keep her composure.

"I was angry. I wanted answers. I wanted to know why she did what she did to you. Seeing you like this is killing me Em. I wanted to help." Paige implored. She tried to take Emily's hands in to her own, but the other girl pulled away and wrapped her arms around her chest; as though she were trying to protect herself. She wanted to believe her, she really did; but being persecuted for so long had left her wary of trusting anyone.  
"Last weekend wasn't your first visit. So what was your excuse for seeing her _twice_ over the summer?"

Paige sighed as she wrung her hands together and shook her head. "When I first heard what Mona had been doing to you guys, what she'd been putting _you _through, I was mad as hell. I wanted to find out what had been going on, but you weren't at school and your friends wouldn't tell me anything…so I went straight to the source. I went to see her a few times, but it was like Mona was catatonic or something. She wouldn't talk to me, it didn't seem like she even knew I was there. I saw her doctor at the Grill the other week, when you first told me about your dreams, and he mentioned that Mona was talking. I figured it would be worth a shot going to see her again."

"Wren told Spencer that you told him you were Mona's friend." Paige winced at the accusing tone lacing Emily's voice.  
"I was, once." She shrugged, knowing there was no way of getting around it. "We were lab partners our freshman year, and I guess we were sort of friends too; before she went all _plastic _and started acting like Alison DiLarurentis." Paige's lip curled in distaste at the thought of Ali and Emily didn't miss it.  
"You and Allison had a thing right? You two hated each other…I'd forgotten about that." Emily suddenly felt uneasy being alone with Paige as things started to fall in to place in her mind. Mona had hated Ali, which was why she had targeted Emily and her friends for payback. Paige hated Ali too, and Emily had experienced her temper first hand. Was it really such a stretch to think that the Paige McCullers who had bullied her last year had also sent threatening text messages and helped Mona in her twisted games?

"You think I _helped _her?" Paige saw it written all over the other girl's face and she felt a familiar anger washing over her. She had come a long way from the bitter, angry and closeted teen she had been before she'd finally opened up to Emily; but she felt all of that slipping away from her as she got to her feet, her fists clenching at her sides. "How could you even think that?"  
"I don't know what to think anymore!" Emily followed suit and got to her feet, she heard her voice rising as she shouted at Paige in retaliation but there was nothing she could do to stop it. It was like they were stuck on a railway line and quickly running out of track.

"Do you know why Allison hated me?" Paige snapped, finally giving up some of her own secrets. "Because I stuck up for my lab partner! She was ragging on Mona one day our freshman year and I told her stop it. After that she made it her mission to make my life a living hell! We've both made some pretty bad choices when it comes our friends Em, but I tried to make things right! I tried to get Mona to tell me why she did what she did! I was trying to help you Em!"  
"I'm sorry, I…" Emily faltered. She had wanted to find out the truth for herself, but she had just ended up accusing Paige of something that she had known couldn't possibly be true. "I'm sorry." She repeated again, at a loss for what else to say. She suddenly felt exhausted as the anger drained from her body. She had the beginning of a migraine and she was shaking as she wrapped her arms back around her chest.

"Are you ok? You don't look so good." Part of Paige wanted to hold on to her anger. She couldn't believe that Emily had thought she could have had any part of what Mona had done to her; but something was clearly wrong with the other girl and she couldn't just ignore her suffering. "Here." She fetched her hoodie out of her kitbag from over by the bleachers and pulled it on over Emily's head. Her teeth were chattering as she mumbled her thanks, yet her skin was searing hot as Paige pressed a hand against her forehead.

"You're burning up." Her concern deepened as she realised Emily really was sick. She had been worrying about her for weeks. She constantly seemed to be tired and her times in the pool were getting slower and slower. At first she'd thought maybe it was depression that was responsible for her always being tired. The other girl had certainly been through enough for it to be a possibility; but a fever suggested something else. "Let me drive you home. You shouldn't be here if you're sick." Paige started pulling her warm-ups on over her costume. Emily didn't object. She sat down on the bleachers, holding her head in her hands as she took a few deep breaths. She was trying to fight the nausea that had crept over her.

"I've got you." Paige soothed as she wrapped an arm around Emily's waist, taking on most of the other girl's waist as she helped her to her feet. Emily cringed as they started walking towards the back exit that led out on to the parking lot, the muscles in her legs felt like they were going in to cramp. Paige got her to her car and took her keys from her to drive her home. The pair were silent for the entire drive, with Emily nodding off to sleep and jerking awake every few minutes. Paige helped her inside her empty house and upstairs to her room. She left her to climb in to bed as she went off in search of some aspirin and a glass of water.

By the time she got back to Emily's room she was lying shivering under the covers. She sat up to swallow the pills Paige offered her and sipped at the water before lying back down. She looked pale and her eyes were sunk to the back of her head as she fought to keep them open. Paige perched on the edge of her bed, fraught with worry. "Should I call your mom? Or a doctor?" She didn't like the idea of leaving Emily on her own, so she was in no hurry to go back to school.  
"I'll be ok, it's probably just a stomach bug or something…you don't need to stay."

"I want to." Paige pulled her legs up and lay behind Emily on top of the bed covers, running her fingers softly through her hair. "I don't know what happened yesterday, but I know it has something to do with Shauna. Whatever she said to you… well it doesn't matter. _She _doesn't matter. We went out for a few weeks, but it didn't mean anything; because she wasn't you…I'm in love with you Em, and I have been for so long…Emily?" Paige was pouring her heart out and Emily wasn't saying a word. She glanced down and found her eyes were closed over and her chest was rising and falling in a soft rhythm. She was already sound asleep.


	15. Chapter 15

"This looks like as good a place as any." Paige looked around the clearing she had found for them to set up camp in as she climbed down from Thunder's back. She tied the reigns around the trunk of thick tree and held out her hand to help Emily down. She was growing used to travelling by horse, but her dismount was still less than graceful. She almost fell on to Paige as her foot got stuck going over the saddle. Her converse were caked in mud from traipsing around the woods and the flat thin soles offered her little protection from the rocks that littered the forest floor. Her jeans were in an equally dire state, with rips in the knees from the last time she'd fallen getting down from Thunder's back. Paige shook her head at her as she let her arms wrap snuggly around her waist. "We need to get you some proper clothing. You look more like a pauper than a goddess."

"It's camouflage." Emily objected with a pout, though in truth her clothes had often ended up making her stand out in the towns and villages they'd passed through. They'd been riding for days and word of the strangely dressed girl who was responsible for the volcano of water that had filled the sky had spread quickly. They would never get close to A with Emily sticking out like a sore thumb wherever they went. They were making their way to Turning Leaf, one of the villages on the outskirts of the forest where Paige was pretty sure Hanna was living. They hoped that she would be able to tell them where Spencer was hiding. They needed the help of the fire goddess if they were ever going to take down the evil queen.

"I'll take your word for it." Paige remarked dryly, though she was grinning as she leant in for a kiss. Emily happily responded, enjoying the way she could just sink against the other girl as she kissed her. In reality, she hadn't spoken to Paige since she'd put her to bed with a fever on Tuesday afternoon. She'd spent the rest of the week in bed, waiting for her fever to break and spending her time sleeping. She wasn't sure what day she was on, maybe it was Friday or even Saturday; without having to get up to go to school it was hard for her to keep track. Her mom had told her that Paige had dropped by a few times, but Emily had been sleeping too soundly for her to wake her so they were still in a weird place. She hadn't had a chance to apologise for even considering that Paige could be part of A's plans; or to confront her about Shana.

"How long until we reach Turning Leaf?" She asked as she pulled away from Paige to let her start setting up their camp for the night.  
"It's maybe a couple of hours away at most." Paige shrugged. She was busy tying a sheet to the trunks of two trees using some thick ropes. It looked like she was making a canopy, but she left too much slack in the sheet, so it dipped in the middle. Emily only realised it was a hammock as Paige finished securing the last knot.

"So why are we stopping? We could be there before dark?" She couldn't see the point in spending the night out in the open if they could reach the town and a nice warm bed.  
"I want to get there while everybody's sleeping. That way we can slip in and back out without anybody seeing us...besides, maybe I just want you to myself for a little longer?" She teased as she dragged her over to the hammock. "You, me, a night under the stars…"  
"Spiders, bears, wolves…" Emily rolled her eyes at her, but allowed the other girl to pull her down in to the hammock. It was surprisingly comfortable, though quite narrow so they were practically lying on top of each other; not that either of them minded.

"We'll sleep here for a few hours and then head out." Paige wrapped her arm around Emily's side as she got as comfortable as she could with Emily's head lying against her chest. They lay with her father's thick woollen cloak draped over them both, though the early evening air was still warm. "And I wouldn't worry about the wolves…it's the dragons you want to watch out for."  
"What?" Emily sat up, her big brown eyes wide with a mix of fear and disbelief. "You're kidding right? Paige? Please tell me you're kidding!" She demanded as the other girl kept a straight face. Eventually she cracked and started laughing at her panic.

"Relax, the last dragons died out centuries ago. Also you're the goddess of water; you could kick a dragon's ass!"  
"Yeah I could." Emily agreed with a chuckle. She had been practising using her ability to control the water around her and she'd found herself getting stronger the more time she'd spent in the Rose Woods. She wanted to be ready when she finally got her chance to take on A and bring Mona down once and for all.

"Damn it." Paige groaned as she felt the first few drops of rain coming through the trees. The rain was light enough, but the clearing was pretty exposed and they would be soaked through if it kept up all night.  
"Got it." Emily shifted so that her arm was dangling over the side of the hammock and the rain started to arch around them as though bouncing off an invisible canopy.

"Show off." Paige muttered; sleep was already threatening to overtake her as her eyes closed over. They had been riding all day and she was ready to get some much needed rest. She hadn't slept soundly in almost two years, not since the night she'd woken up in her bed and heard the sounds of A and her army storming the castle. Her father and the rest of the knights had done their best to defend the walls, but eventually the castle had succumbed to the onslaught.

Paige had watched her parents die in front of her and that memory not only haunted her every waking minute, but her dreams too. She no longer let herself sleep for more than a few hours at a time and even when she did manage to get her head down for a while her slumber would be less than peaceful; except when Emily was around. It seemed that the goddess had the ability to keep her nightmares at bay, which to Paige was a far more impressive feat than keeping them dry in the rain.

* * *

"Hi Mrs Fields." Paige greeted Emily's mom with a polite smile as she stopped her bike in front of her yard. "Want some help?" The older woman was struggling with getting a load of groceries out of the back of her car and Paige wasted no time in going over to help her, taking three of the heavier bags from her so she could get the rest and close the trunk behind her.  
"Thank you Paige, that's very kind of you. Emily's father has had to go back to Texas for the weekend and Emily's still in no fit state to come shopping with me."

"How's Emily doing?" Paige quizzed. She'd tried calling but had never managed to catch Emily when she was awake. She'd been sleeping off her fever for most of the week.  
"Good. Her fever broke last night. She should be back in school Monday. She might be awake if you want to go up?" Pam offered, catching Paige off guard. She hadn't intended to stop by to see Emily at all; she'd been out riding her bike after school and had found herself in Emily's neighbourhood.

Things were still strange between them and Paige wasn't quite ready to pick up where they had left off before Emily had gotten sick. She'd been honest with Emily about being friends with Mona and about visiting her at Radley; but she had kept some of the more important details to herself and the guilt was eating away at her. She needed to figure out a game plan before admitting everything to the other girl; otherwise she would end up losing her altogether.

"I don't want to disturb her if she's sleeping…" Paige tried to make her excuses as she followed Pam in to the kitchen and sat the bags down on the kitchen counter. "I'll just see her Monday."  
"Is everything ok?" Pam was no fool and she could see the teenager was anxious to leave. "You and Emily almost seemed joined at the hip last week…are you two fighting?"

Paige had to hand it to the older woman, she seemed less than comfortable enquiring about her and Emily's relationship, but at least she was asking. Paige couldn't imagine her own parents questioning Emily about it. "Uh, sort of." She admitted, unsure how much Emily's mom knew about what was going on. "It's complicated." She shrugged, not really wanting to go in to it.  
"I've been worried about Emily lately. She's been distant… constantly sleeping…I think she might be depressed." Pam said the last word in a quiet whisper, as though it was taboo.

"Given what she's been through, I wouldn't be surprised if she were." Paige conceded. "I think maybe you should talk to Emily about this stuff though-"  
"Relax Paige, I'm not asking you to betray Emily's confidence. If she's mentioned anything to you then I don't expect you to share it with me. I just…I wanted to say thank you." Her gratitude threw Paige for a loop.  
"For what?"  
"For being there for Emily; it's been nice to see her smiling again. I don't know what you girls are fighting over, but I hope you can work it out."

"Me too." Paige agreed. "I think I will go up and see her after all." Pam's little pep talk had done its job, getting under the teenager's skin and making her feel guilty for not being brave enough to face Emily and set things right. She headed up the stairs to Emily's room. Standing outside of her door she fussed over her hair, pushing the bangs she was still growing out back behind her ears.

It was late Friday afternoon and Emily was still lying in bed in her pyjamas. She was awake though and propped up against her pillows as she watched TV. "I told you I'm not hungry…oh. Paige." Emily had seen the door opening and thought that it was her mom coming back in to try and convince her to eat something. She'd been in around lunchtime, trying to offer her a sandwich, but Emily still didn't have much of an appetite. Her fever had finally broken though and she was feeling a lot better than she had the last time Paige had been in her room. "Hey. I got your messages; I meant to call you back…how are you?" She pulled her knees up to give the other girl somewhere to sit down, but Paige chose the window seat instead.

"I'm good. How are you doing? Your mom said your fever was gone."  
"It is. I'm feeling better." Emily could feel the tension hanging between them in the air as she struggled for something else to say. The last time they'd talked they had been arguing and Emily didn't want to mention anything that would start them off again; which pretty much ruled out saying anything at all. "I've been sleeping a lot, and dreaming. I think I'm finally getting somewhere in the Rose Woods. We're going to find Hanna and-"

"I have to tell you something." Paige interrupted her as she tried to update her on what was happening in her dreams. It was the first time that Paige hadn't shown an interest in them and she felt a little hurt; the serious look on the other girl's face also had her feeling apprehensive.  
"I don't want to fight, Paige." Emily sighed. She wrapped her arms around her knees as she brought her chin down to rest on them. "I'm sorry for even considering the possibility that you had anything to do with A, and I'm sorry for messing you around. You deserve better, you deserve someone like Sha-"

"I knew Mona was A." Paige couldn't sit there and listen to the other girl apologising any longer. She had no right to forgiveness. Emily was justified in being mad at her, just as her friends were right to be suspicious. She _had _helped A to terrorise them; even if it had been inadvertently. Emily fell silent as she just sat there staring at her, trying to absorb the bombshell that Paige had just dropped between them.

"Allison confronted me a few months before she died. She was getting these texts from a blocked number and messages left in her locker. She thought I was behind them. So she got something on me, something she thought would make the texts stop; but they didn't, because I wasn't A. When she told me about them, I just knew it was Mona. I asked her outright and she offered to let me in on it. I wasn't interested. I just wanted to stay as far away from Alison DiLaurentis as I could get; but I never told. I kept Mona's secret. If I'd known she was doing the same thing to you and the others, I would have spoken up. I would have told you _everything _Em! If you'd just told me what was happening…" She wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. When the news had first broke about what Mona had been putting the girls through, Paige had instantly been hit by a wave of guilt that had eaten away at her over the whole summer.

If she'd just spoken up back then, if she'd told Allison who was torturing her, then she could have saved Emily from the same torment. She could never forgive herself for what she had allowed to happen to Emily. "What was it?" She looked up, unsure of the question that Emily was actually asking. It wasn't the one she had expected as the other girl elaborated. "What did Ali have on you?"

What she'd had on her was Emily. She'd figured out how Paige had felt about Emily long before Paige had even realised it herself. Allison had been good at that. She'd had a knack for finding and exploiting a person's weakness. "Nothing that matters now." Paige shook her head. Emily was missing the point. "I just told you I knew who A was and I did nothing about it…why aren't you screaming at me, or kicking me out?"  
"You didn't know what was going on. If you had, you would have told me right away. I know that…I know you." Emily's words felt like vindication, but Paige wasn't quite so forgiving of herself. She got to her feet, wringing her hands together as she approached Emily's bed. There was still something hanging between them and Paige knew it; she just couldn't put her finger on exactly what it was. Emily had forgiven her for the stuff with Mona and Allison, but there was still something else.

"What changed?" It was her turn to ask the questions as she wrapped her arms around her chest. "The other day when we were kissing in your car and talking about making a go of things…what changed?" Paige had been too distracted with everything else to question it, but Emily had started pulling away from her before she'd found out about her visits to Mona. She'd been thinking about it a lot over the few days that Emily had been home sick and she'd came to the only conclusion that made sense. "What did Shana say to you?"

"The truth." Emily admitted with a heavy heart. There was no avoiding the conversation they were about to have. "She seems nice." She lied, provoking a snort of indignation from Paige as she took a seat on the edge of her bed.  
"Nice? She's a bitch, Em! Whatever she said to you-"  
"She said she was your girlfriend." Emily frowned, suddenly unsure of herself.

"Son of a…" Paige shook her head in dismay. "We only dated for a few weeks over the summer. I went to Kate's cousin's barbeque with her and Shana was there. I guess we got on ok. She and Kate's cousin Sarah swim for the Red Devils, so we arranged a couple of meets with a few girls from each team. Shan asked for my number and we saw each other a few times." It hadn't been a big deal. Paige hadn't even realised the other girl was gay until she'd leant in to kiss her after they'd gone to a movie together. They'd gone on a few dates after that, but it hadn't led anywhere. She hadn't taken rejection well when Paige had told her it was over. She'd been hounding her ever since.

"She said…she told me…" Emily couldn't believe she had fallen for Shana's lie. She felt like an idiot. "I thought…" She didn't bother finishing her sentence. Sitting forward she brought their lips together, taking Paige by surprise as she kissed her. "I'm so sorry." She sighed against her mouth.  
"Can we both just stop apologising for everything?" Paige chuckled softly as she moved to kiss her again. Emily's fever had broken, but her skin was still hot and clammy under Paige's touch. "Do you know why I called things off with Shana?"

"Other than her being a bitch?" Emily's lips curled up in to a smile as they moved so that they were curled up together on her bed. Paige laughed against her ear as she kissed her cheek. All of the anger and tension that had been keeping them apart had finally dissolved, leaving them closer than ever.  
"I saw you the day you came back to town. I was riding past your house on my bike and I spotted you climbing out of your mom's car. I hadn't seen you in almost two months. I saw you and I just knew that I was fooling myself by thinking I could ever settle for someone like Shana. I wanted you Em…It's only ever been you."


	16. Chapter 16

"Cosy." Paige remarked as she stared up at the impressive sight before them. High up in the trees above their heads sat a tree house of sorts. It didn't look like it was made out of wood though; it seemed to be growing out of the actual trees. There was no visible way to reach the house. "I think we'll have to climb it." Even as she suggested it, Paige knew the idea was ludicrous. The trunks of the ancient trees were far too thick to scuttle up and there were no low hanging branches that they could climb on to.

"Are you sure this is the right house?" Emily quizzed. She couldn't imagine Hanna climbing up a tree. It was early morning and they had slipped through the neighbouring village under the cover of the remaining darkness before first light. The tree house was right on the edge of the village, hidden deep within the trees and almost camouflaged by them.  
"This is the place. Aria grew it for her as a wedding present." Paige explained as she walked around the base of one of the huge trees, trying to figure out a way to get up it.

"Hanna's married?"  
"According to Aria you were one of her bridesmaids." Paige shrugged. She wasn't all that interested in the goddess of the Air's love life. They were there for information, not a catch up. Part of her still feared that Emily would go back to her sisters and forget all about A and the troubles of the kingdom. The goddesses had already turned their backs on the Rose Woods once. "You really don't remember your past do you?" Paige had been in two minds about Emily's supposed amnesia; but she was starting to believe it was real.  
"Not this one." Emily admitted begrudgingly. "Should we maybe shout up or something? Let them know we're here?"

As if on cue an arrow soared through the air towards them, landing straight up in the dirt in front of Paige's feet. She drew her sword as she glared up at the trees. The sun was still hanging sluggishly over the horizon, leaving the treetops shrouded in darkness. She couldn't make out the bowman in any great detail, but a rustle of the leaves gave away his position as he took aim for a second time. It was intended as a warning shot, to land in front of Emily this time, but Paige intercepted, slicing the arrow in half mid-flight. It was an impressive feat and a testament to the girl's skill with the sword.

She held the blade up by her shoulder as she took a fighting stance. "A bow? Come down and fight like a man you coward!" She hollered up at the trees as the figure slipping soundlessly from one branch to another.  
"Says the little girl with a big sword." They heard an answering chuckle that seemed to carry down to them on the breeze. Emily recognised the voice instantly and her face lit up.  
"Caleb?" She called up as she stepped closer towards the base of the tree, ignoring Paige's protests.

"Emily?" Caleb lowered his bow as he recognised the water goddess. "Oh my god! Wait right there!" He tossed a roped down from the balcony he had been crouching on, slung his bow over his shoulder, and slid down to the ground with practised ease. Before Emily could say a word he was throwing his arms around her in a crushing bear hug. His long hair was tied back and the same feathers that adorned his arrows were braided in to it. He wore a deep brown tunic that helped him blend in with the trees around him and he smelled of damp earth and freshly cut grass.

"We thought you were dead!" He gasped against the top of her head as he carried on holding her; it was starting to get a little awkward. His voice sounded choked and as Emily finally managed to pull away from him she realised his eyes were clouded with unshed tears. He was doing his best to hold them back.  
"I was…at least that's what people keep telling me." Emily shrugged. She had a whole history in the Rose Woods that she knew nothing about. It was frustrating, like picking a book up and starting it from the middle. She was still struggling to piece everything together.  
"Hanna's going to flip!" He was grinning, the initial shock having worn off. "Come on up…" He turned back towards the tree he'd just climbed down from, but bypassed the rope. He went to the base of the tree instead and ran his hands along the bark until he found what he was looking for. A large chunk of bark suddenly pulled back like it was on hinges, revealing a hidden entrance in to the tree.

Emily was about to walk towards him when Paige grabbed hold of her wrist and kept a firm grip. "We don't know if we can trust him!" She hissed at the other girl, glaring at the bowman as he rolled her eyes at her. Emily shrugged free of her grip, dismissing her paranoia.  
"It's Caleb; of course we can trust him!" She walked over to the thick trunk of the ancient tree and disappeared through the newly revealed door. Paige glared after her, reluctant to follow.  
"After you." Caleb invited her in with a sweep of his hand, but she held her ground.  
"You first." She snarled at him.

He chuckled and shook his head as he ducked to walk through the door. Paige followed him, her hand on her sword at her side the whole way up. The inside of the tree was carved out so that there was a winding staircase all the way up to the top. It opened up on to the balcony that Caleb had been shooting from and he pulled the rope he'd dropped back up. "Can't be too careful." He explained as he tidied the rope away. "Sorry about before. I didn't know it was you and I saw your friend's sword…" He nodded towards Paige, who still looked less than happy to be up in the tree house. She was looking around sceptically, ever alert for potential danger.

"That's Paige. She's my…" Emily trailed off, unsure of how to finish her sentence. What was Paige to her? That was the question that was burning on her mind whether she was awake or sleeping. Paige seemed just as interested in hearing Emily's answer as Caleb was. "She's with me." She finished lamely. She didn't miss the flash of hurt that crossed the other girl's face. Luckily Emily didn't have to face her as they were distracted by something large moving through the trees towards them.

Paige drew her sword, acting on instinct as the massive bird flew at the tree house. It was bigger than any eagle, yet it moved with just as much majestic grace. It's feathers were pure white and as it flew in close enough Emily could make out dazzling green eyes that seemed to narrow on her. Paige didn't like the way it homed in on Emily. She stepped forward with the sword raised, intending to scare it off.

"No!" Caleb shouted, shoving her hard enough to make her drop the sword. It fell over the side of the balcony, hurtling to the ground far below. Paige would have dived after it had Emily not grabbed hold of her arm. Her eyes widened in sheer panic as she watched her most prized possession fall. It was all she had left of her father. The bird reacted to the commotion as it shot down towards the ground. Its razor sharp talons wrapped around the heavy sword and stopped it mid-fall. The thing was a ton-weight, yet the bird carried it like it was little more than a field mouse.

It landed right in front of Paige, carefully placing the precious sword at her feet. She stared between the sword and the bird, completely bewildered. She had never seen anything like it before. "What is it?" She directed her question at Caleb, who was relaxed and grinning again as he folded his arms over his chest.  
"My wife."

* * *

"So…Hanna's a bird?" Paige quizzed with an amused smile. She'd listened patiently as Emily had filled her in on the latest drama in her dream. They were still sitting in Emily's room, curled up on her bed and watching the end credits of the movie that had been on for the past couple of hours. Emily had drifted asleep a few times halfway through and Paige had just let her sleep, intending to sneak out once the movie was over.  
"She was, but then she like transformed or something and suddenly it was her standing there with your sword, not a bird."  
"I guess it makes sense, she is the goddess of the air?"  
"You know, if I told anyone else about this stuff they'd think I was crazy right?" Emily pointed out with a laugh. "But not you."

"You've put up with plenty of my crazy, indulging you with yours is the least I can do." She teased, though she was only half joking. She had been close to losing her mind before Emily had helped her accept who she was…I should probably get going." She made a move to sit up, though it was difficult with Emily's limbs still tangled through hers.  
"You can stay? If you want to?"  
"I would, but I'm supposed to be running with my dad in the morning and I need to call the stables and cancel-"

"We're supposed to go riding tomorrow." Emily had plain forgotten about Paige's offer to take her riding on Saturday. It had been a long and eventful week and their plans had slipped her mind. "We could still go?"  
"Are you sure? I don't want you getting sick again." Paige's expression was full of concern as she moved to check Emily's temperature.  
"I feel fine." She insisted as she swatted her hand away. "I still want to go…please?"  
"Ok." Paige relented. She was actually pleased she wouldn't have to cancel their plans, but she was still worried about the other girl's health. "We can go riding as long as your temperature stays down tomorrow, deal?"

"Deal." Emily agreed with a grin. "Do you really have to go right now though?" She leant in to give her a long lingering kiss in the hopes of changing her mind. She was suddenly wide awake again as Paige shifted to wrap her arms around her.  
"Maybe I could stay for a little bit."

* * *

"I knew you were alive. As soon as I saw the water in the sky, I knew it had to be you!" Hanna squeezed her sister goddess tightly as she squealed with delight.  
"She was a bird." Paige pointed out the obvious for a second time as she gawped at the blonde. She was having trouble processing the fact that the bird that had just saved her sword had transformed in to a young woman with long golden locks and a shimmering blue dress that fell all the way down to her ankles. "She was flying…"

"Of course I was. I _am _the goddess of the air!" Hanna announced with an air of grandeur as she pulled away from Emily and turned to face her other guest. "Mortals are so easily impressed." She laughed over her shoulder, expecting her fellow goddess to join in.  
"I'm not _impressed _by your little trick! I want to know how you can turn in to a bird and fly around when were supposed to have given your powers up to A?"  
"Oh." Hanna flushed and suddenly dropped her gaze to the floor, as if ashamed by the answer. "Keeping that part of my powers was a gift."

"Oh really? Does A often give you _gifts?_" Paige became red faced, though that was through anger not shame like Hanna.  
"Paige-" Emily tried to interject to keep the peace, but when it came to A and the goddesses of the forest the young warrior had a chip on her shoulder the size of a small country. She jerked away from Emily's reaching hand.

Her eyes were burning with hatred as she glared at the blonde in front of her. "What did you do that made A want to give you such a gift? Did you tell her how to take out the castle's defences? Or did you tell her how to kill Emily? Did you turn on your sister? Did you-"  
"Enough!" Hanna startled the pair of them as she snapped at Paige with just as much ferocity. "I didn't turn on my sister _or _this kingdom! We watched over the royal bloodline for centuries! We made sure the right king sat on that throne and we worked our asses off to keep the woods safe! I didn't help 'A'. I got to keep my ability to fly because I saved a little girl's life ten years ago…"

"Mona." Emily supplied. She still had no memories of the Rose Woods before waking up at the bottom of the lake, but the pieces of the puzzle were getting easier to slot together with her memories of the waking world helping her. "You saved Mona's life when she was a little girl?"  
"She'd wandered off in to the woods alone and gotten lost." Hanna answered with a laboured sigh. "She was so tiny, even for a child. I thought she might have been one of the fae; she had fairy blood in her of course. That's how she saw me even when I was trying to hide in the wind…I'd never met a human child before. We'd protected the humans for as long as they'd been in the woods, but we never mixed with them. I took her back to her home and told her not to go wandering in the woods alone. Then a few days later I found her again. It carried on for months before I realised she was doing it deliberately, I thought she just simple." Paige scoffed at that. Hanna was the one who had been played by a child.

The blonde pointedly ignored her as she carried on telling her tale. "She was just lonely. She wanted to hear all about what it was like to be a goddess and to be immortal and adored…to be powerful." There was guilt written all over Hanna's face and Emily knew there was more to come.  
"Go on." She urged, prodding her to continue as the blonde fell in to her own thoughts.  
"You already know all of this Em." Hanna sighed again as her eyes locked on Emily's.

"She doesn't remember anything before she died." Paige answered before Emily could speak and her words caused another pang of guilt in the Goddess of the Air. The blonde swallowed hard and closed her eyes over before carrying on where she'd left off.  
"I told her it had to stop. She had human parents and she needed to be with them. A few weeks later I found her in the woods again. She'd been there all night and she wouldn't say a word to me. She wouldn't even look at me… When I took her home it was all gone. Her entire village had burned to the ground."

"She did it." Paige stated. It wasn't a question. There was no doubt in her mind that an eight year old A could wipe out her entire village without batting an eyelid. Hanna nodded, her voice too choked to answer.  
"I didn't figure it out then, but I'm sure of it now. She killed them all to try and make me take her in."  
"Did you?" Emily asked, unable to see Hanna looking after a kid. She doubted she would manage all that well with a puppy never mind a mini-person.

"No. I took her to Radley. She never forgave me."  
"Radley?" Emily was horrified by the idea of a young Mona locked up in an asylum; even though she knew that was exactly where she belonged. "You put an eight year old in a nut house?"  
"I took her to Radley Castle." Hanna corrected her. "There was a chamber maid there who took in stray children. She was a good woman and there were plenty of children for Mona to play with. A lot of the servants had kids; and some of the knights did too."

Knights? Emily looked from Hanna to Paige and saw the anguish on her face. Her fists were clenched at her sides and her jaw was set. She was struggling to reign in her temper. She thought of what she had just learnt about Paige and Mona being friends in freshman year and she felt her heart sink. "Did you grow up at Radley too?"  
"I did." She choked out, unwilling to tear her gaze away from the sword at her side.  
"Were you friends?" Trying to get answers from the stoic girl was like trying to pull teeth. She had to ask a second time before Paige finally answered her. "Were you and Mona friends?"  
"No…I knew her, but we weren't friends. I didn't have friends as a kid; just Ezra. Aria took him from me, just like Mona took my parents and everything else that mattered to me; all because this dumb bitch couldn't recognise _evil_ when she saw it!"

"Paige!" Emily protested, but Paige wasn't listening as she rounded on the blonde. Caleb's fingers twitched against the string of his bow as he got ready to spring in to action to defend his wife.  
"You should have _snapped_ her neck the first time you found her alone in the woods!"  
"I know that." Hanna surprised them all by agreeing with her. Paige was startled by the admission and had nothing to say back. "Hindsight's a bitch isn't it?"

"Why did you and Aria give your powers over to her?" Paige demanded after a moment of silent contemplation, asking the question that had been playing on her mind. It had crossed Emily's on occasion too, though the answer should have been obvious to her as Hanna looked behind her at her husband. She slipped her hand in to Caleb's and squeezed it lightly as the young man's expression became pained.

"When we gave up our immortality to live a human life it came with certain conditions. We would live as humans for sixty years, or until our lovers died, whichever happened first. Mona used that against us. She threatened to kill Caleb and Ezra if we didn't hand our powers over willingly. She'd learnt from killing Em that she couldn't just take them, they had to be given. So we gave in. We had no choice…"

"We could have fought harder." Caleb growled from behind her, mirroring Paige's own thoughts. It had only been days after killing Emily and taking her sister's powers that Mona had made her move on Radley. Both King and castle had fallen and A had taken the crown for herself.  
"She could have killed you Caleb! Emily was dead and Spencer was gone…I couldn't lose you too!"  
"Where did Spencer go?" Emily tried to interrupt the arguing couple, but they weren't listening to her.

"Where is Spencer?" Paige raised her voice to a shout, startling a pair of lovebirds that were roosting in one of the branches near her head. It caught Hanna and Caleb's attention too, stopping them mid-argument.  
"I have no idea. I haven't seen her in almost two years, not since Em…how are you even alive?" Hanna couldn't help but turn to quiz Emily. "I mean, we all knew a human death wouldn't _really _kill you, but you weren't supposed to be able to come back until all of us had passed on…are you still human?" She stared at the dark haired girl like she was some kind of alien, making her shift uncomfortably on her feet.  
"I think so." She shrugged. Hanna knew more than she did.

"Wait, if you're human are you still linked to Maya?" Emily felt a pang of guilt in the bottom of her stomach as she thought about her ex. She didn't miss the uncomfortable expression on Paige's face either. Maya was still alive in this world. Emily had known there would be a possibility she would see her, but she had never really prepared herself for the reality of seeing her dead girlfriend.

She didn't have long to think about the implications of Maya being alive as Hanna's frown deepened. "If you two are still linked, and Mona finds out you're alive-"  
"She'll go after Maya to get to me." Emily finished for her, easily following her friend's logic. "And I sent out a giant waterfall in the sky to announce I was back." She swallowed, suddenly regretting her desire to take the fight to Mona. She should have known from experience that taking A head on would only ever lead to trouble. "We have to warn her."  
"Warn her? You have to protect her! Emily, if Maya's life is still connected to yours then you'll _die _with her!"

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the wait guys, I've been working crazy 60 hour weeks and haven't had many days off this month. Things are quieting down now so I should be back on track with regular updates. The next chapter shouldn't take too long as I've been waiting to write it for a while and it brings in a few more familiar faces! It's definitely a game changer ;)**


	17. Chapter 17

"I'm not sure about this." Paige sighed as she leant over the railing, staring down at the ground far below. Caleb lounged beside her, using his knife to whittle an arrow. "Maya works at the inn in Radley village. Going there…we might as well be walking in to the lion's den. If anyone recognises Emily-"  
"Or you." Caleb interrupted abruptly, his dark eyes settling on Paige without any hint of emotion. "I know who you are, Paige McCullers." Her hand automatically went to her side, but her sword was inside the tree house, resting against a chair. Emily had convinced her that she was safe there, but Paige wasn't quite so sure as she glared at Caleb.

"Relax. I'm not going tell your secret and I'm not going to turn you in. I grew up on a farm just outside of Radley. The king and his knights used to ride through all the time. They'd give my dad gold coins for him letting them rest on our land and for watering their horses. You have his eyes you know… your Dad's. He was a good man." Paige felt the lump in her throat grow as she nodded at the young archer.  
"Thank you for saying that…Does your dad still have his farm?" Caleb's hollow expression was answer enough as he hung his head. Eventually he answered, in little more than a whisper.  
"He died in the uprising. He wasn't a knight or a solider, he was just…"  
"A good man." Paige finished for him. They stood in silence, commiserating their fallen fathers.

"I know I don't have a choice about going back to Radley. If Maya's life is still connected to Emily's then I need to protect them both…but A thinking I'm dead is the only advantage I have."  
"Maybe not. There's been a lot of talk lately, about taking out A. There are small groups spread throughout the kingdom, like a dozen tiny flames…They just need one spark to turn in to a fire. Nicholas McCullers' daughter could be that spark. You could lead an army Paige-"

"I'm not interested in a revolution, Caleb. I just want A dead. The less people involved the more chance I have of that happening. I don't want that bitch knowing I'm coming for her until I'm already there. She took everything from me and I can't rest until I put things right!"  
"I understand that." Caleb nodded, and for once someone actually did understand her. Paige could see it in his expression; it was like looking in to a mirror. He'd lost his family and his home and, on top of all of that, A was still a threat to the person he loved most in the world. He would do anything to keep Hanna safe. "But it won't bring them back."  
"No…but it will keep Emily safe."

Paige headed inside and strapped her sheath back around her waist. The weight of the sword pulling down on her hips felt familiar and reassuring, but Emily's arms wrapping around her felt even more comforting. "We should get going. Mona might already be making a move on Maya and…" Emily made to move towards the door, but Paige stopped her, holding her in place. "What's wrong?"  
"I'll protect you. No matter what. You know that right?" Paige promised, giving the other girl her word. She swallowed hard before continuing. "Even if we go to Radley and you choose Maya, I won't stop-"

"Paige, I already made my choice." Emily interrupted her. "Maya and I had our time together. Sure, there are times when I miss her, but…I can't live in the past. I'm going to Radley to protect Maya, not to get back with her. This whole thing, me being _here_, it's because of _you_. I know that now." She cupped her cheek as she leant in to kiss her. Her dream was about moving forward with her life, putting Maya and A, and even Allison, behind her. She finally understood that.

Paige nodded, not trusting herself to speak. It had been a long time since she had let anyone get remotely close to her. She'd even pushed Ezra away from her, yet within a matter of weeks she'd fallen hard and fast for the girl standing before her. When it came to Emily she wore her heart on her sleeve and she was terrified that it would be broken again.

They said their goodbyes to Hanna and Caleb, promising to return if they found any news on Spencer. Paige was growing frustrated at their lack of progress in finding the fire goddess; she was after all the only creature in the woods powerful enough to take on A. Emily might have had some of her powers, and she was learning to control them more and more with each passing day, but Spencer was their best shot at getting to Mona and Paige wanted to find her almost as badly as she wanted to avoid Radley. She had grown up in the castle, visiting the village often. There would be plenty of people there who recognised her, including A's soldiers. She was risking everything going to help Maya, but if there was even a chance that Emily could be in danger then she had to go.

Emily had been killed as a mortal with her powers. They had no idea if her apparent resurrection meant the magic that had made her human had been broken, or if she was still bound to the spell because the other three were. If Emily was still mortal then she could be killed and Paige could lose her. If she was immortal again then she would be far more useful in taking down A than even the fire goddess. Paige only knew of two ways to find out for certain. The first involved delivering Emily a fatal blow to see if it would kill her, but the risk far outweighed the reward if Emily was in fact still mortal. The second option was to ask the Secret Keeper, but that was almost as desperate and as dangerous as the first option. Paige pushed it from her mind. She wouldn't go down that path unless she absolutely had to.

They reached Radley by nightfall and Paige made sure to keep the hood of her cloak up over her head as she climbed down from Thunder's back and secured to horse to a post outside of the inn. Emily had borrowed a cloak from Hanna and had her own hood up. The dark blue material seemed to almost shimmer as she moved, but at least the cloak hid her own strange clothes that made her stick out a mile. She reached to help her down from the horse, her hands lingering on her waist as she stared in to her eyes. Emily could tell she was more than tense. She was terrified and trying to hide it behind her tough act. "I need you to stay here. I'll go in and bring Maya out; we don't need a scene happening in there." Emily opened her mouth to argue, but closed it again when she realised the other girl was right. She was supposed to be dead. If she just walked right in to the bar where Maya worked she'd probably faint from shock or something. "Stay here with Thunder and give me five minutes."

She slipped inside the inn, keeping her hood up and her head down low. The bar was hot and crowded, with the smell of smoke and stale beer permeating the air. A small band sat in the corner playing a lively tune that Paige recognised from her childhood; it had been one of the first pieces her father had taught her how to play on the piano.

She kept her hand on the hilt of her sword as her eyes scanned the crowd. It was made up of the usual types who frequented bars, from weather-beaten farmers to off-duty soldiers. Most of the people in there were men, save from the waitresses who were going between tables taking orders. One particular woman caught her attention, with her dark skin, long black curls and large gold hoops hanging from her earlobes. She matched Emily's description of her ex-girlfriend and Paige felt her eyes lingering on the other girl as she assessed her rival.

She watched her for a minute or two before making her move. She followed her over to the bar and ordered a shot of house whiskey from her. Maya barely looked at her as she handed over a glass. She was used to armed strangers in cloaks sitting down at the bar. She only took notice as Paige handed over a gold coin that would be more than enough to pay for the tab of everyone in the whole bar. "What do you want?" Maya was no fool; Paige had to admire her for that. She eyed the coin warily, as though it was cursed treasure.

"Just five minutes of your time." Paige answered her question without really thinking. She cringed as she realised how it had sounded. Maya had obviously come to the same conclusion as she glared at her.  
"I suggest you go somewhere else for a drink." She replied coldly, ignoring the gold altogether as she took the empty glass away. Paige caught her wrist, trying to stop her from leaving.  
"Please, I have something you're going to want to so see-"  
"I don't think so." The young woman sneered at her as she wrenched her arm free. She nodded towards a burly man standing by the door. His long scraggily hair and beard gave him the appearance of a bear as he lumbered towards them. Paige was pretty sure he was at least half Giant.  
"Please, you don't want to do this. Just come outside with me." Paige was only making it worse as she implored Maya to leave with her.

"This runt bothering you Maya?" The giant grunted as he came up behind Paige. His clenched fists were the size of two small infants.  
"No, there's just been a misunderstanding-" Paige tried to explain, but the big man wasn't in the listening mood. He made to grab at the front of her cloak with his big beefy hands. Paige ducked out from under him, pulling her sword as she went. "Please. I don't want to hurt you. I just need that girl to come outside with me for five minutes-"

"Not happening!" The giant growled at her before lunging forward. Paige dodged him again, jumping up on to the bar to avoid being flattened by his gargantuan weight. The music stopped abruptly as the band stopped playing and gawked up at the crazy lady standing on the bar with a broadsword, along with the rest of the patrons of the bar.  
"So much for not making a scene." Paige muttered to herself. Dropping to her knees she pulled Maya flush against her and held her sword to her neck to stop the giant or anyone else from trying to rush her. She pressed her lips against the other girl's ear, knowing that what she said next would stop her from thrashing around. "Emily's alive. She's waiting outside. If you ever want to see her again then call off your goons."

"What?" Maya stopped struggling against her. She'd obviously had an idea that Emily was alive because of the tower of water that had filled the sky a few days earlier. "Emily's here?"  
"She's right outside." Paige nodded. "We want a quiet reunion here, not a bar fight. So let's make this right." She sheathed her sword again before backing away from the young woman with both hands in the air.  
"Sorry about that folks, it was just a little misunderstanding." Maya addressed the patrons of her bar with a warm smile. "Get back to your beer." She nodded at the giant who acted as the inn's security and he backed down. His beady eyes were still narrowed on Paige as he lumbered back over towards his table by the door. She fished out two more gold coins from her pocket and placed them down on the bar.

"I'll need a room, and some drinks for my friends here." Maya took the gold and handed over a key to one of the rooms upstairs. Paige took it with a grim expression. "I'll get Emily upstairs, come up when you're done." Paige felt every set of eyes in the place on her as she headed to the door. She found Emily standing right where she had left her, minding the horse.  
"Everything ok?" She asked as she caught the look on Paige's face.  
"We've got a room for the night; she'll meet you up there." She pressed the key in to Emily's hand. There was an air of sadness around her that stopped Emily from taking the key and walking away.

"Paige, I meant what I said. This doesn't change anything between us."  
"Of course it doesn't." She leant in to kiss Emily's cheek before pulling away. "I'll give you two some privacy." Despite Emily's protests she walked back in to the bar to get a drink, leaving Emily to go up to the room alone. She took a table at the back of the inn and flagged down one of the waitresses to get a bottle of something strong. She had a feeling she was going to need it.

Emily sat timidly on the hard straw mattress of the bed in the rented room, her eyes glued to the door as she waited for Maya to walk through it. Her palms felt sweaty and her pulse was racing. Maya had been dead for months. Emily wasn't sure she was quite ready to see her again. She had mourned her lover. She had attended her memorial and then she had shut herself off from the world to deal with her grief; she had even gone so far as to run away to Haiti for the summer.

She heard the rattle of the doorknob and let out a deep breath to steady her nerves. She forgot to breathe again as the door opened. The other girl just stood there staring at her with the same wide-eyed disbelief. "Emily..." Maya moved first. She crossed the room in two long strides and threw her arms around her old lover. Despite what she had said to Paige earlier, Maya felt herself choking up as she hugged her back. It was one thing to talk about seeing her ex again, but to actually see her alive was almost too much for the teenager to bear. She felt her knees buckle as they both slumped down on to the bed. "Emily, what the hell happened? How is this possible? How are you…"

"Alive?" Emily let out a nervous laugh. "I don't know. The truth is I don't really know anything about this place. I don't remember anything about being a goddess, or taking on A, or-"  
"Me?" Maya looked hurt as she figured out where Emily was going with her admission. "Who's the girl?"  
"Paige? She….she's someone important to me."  
"I used to be important to you too." Maya shot back. Emily almost smiled at her familiar attitude. She was just as she remembered.  
"You still are. Things are just different now…Paige is real. She's still there when I open my eyes."  
"I don't understand." Maya frowned. "Why did you come here if you're with her now? Why come back?"  
"Because I think you're in danger. A knows I'm back and Hanna thinks that we could still be connected-"

"Of course we're still connected! You gave up your immortality so we could be together! A bond like that doesn't end at death!" Maya huffed. Her relief at finding out Emily was alive had been short lived. "You really don't remember anything about us? The first time we met? The first time we… The day you died?"  
"I have my memories, but they're not the ones you have. I'm sorry, but I'm not the girl you remember Maya. I came here to keep you safe. Hanna thinks that-"

"You're always protecting me. I was drowning the first time we met. I went swimming in your lake and I got in to trouble. You pulled me out…saved my life. I went back to that lake every day for a month just to see you again." Maya wore a sad smile. "I fell in love with you on that first day and I just kept falling…watching you die was the hardest thing I've ever done."  
"You were there when it happened?" Emily hadn't thought much about her death in the Rose Woods. Up until then it hadn't seemed as real as the rest of it. The death of the Water Goddess had just been a story to her; something that had happened to somebody else. She had never stopped to think that Maya might have had to live through it.

"We were at the lake. You'd barely been human a day when she came looking for you-"  
"Because I was the weakest." Emily interrupted her, her tone bitter. "The easiest one to pick off. She wanted my powers to take over the Rose woods."  
"She wanted all of your powers, but she thought yours would be a good place to start." Maya nodded in agreement. "You were still dazed, weak from becoming mortal. You had your powers but you didn't know how to use them in your human body…she held your head under the water until you stopped breathing." Emily felt her chest tighten as Maya described how she had died. A shiver ran over her as she thought of Ali being buried alive, choking on the earth and struggling to breathe.

"And what did you do to stop her?" Paige appeared at the open doorway, an empty bottle clutched in one of her hands. "When A was holding Emily under the water, just what did you do to stop the woman you _loved _from being murdered?"  
"Paige…" Emily sent her a warning glare, but she ignored it as she stumbled inside the room.  
"Nothing." Maya admitted with a heavy heart. "I did nothing. I wanted to, but I was scared! There was nothing I could have done!"

"You could have fought for her!" Paige protested. She almost fell over her own feet as she stumbled towards them, swinging the empty liquor bottle around in the air. "If it were me I would have gone down fighting! I would have fought for her with my last breath!"  
"Paige, that's enough!" Emily snapped at her at the same time as Maya lost it.  
"You have no idea what you're talking about! I did what I had to do to survive!"  
"Yeah, you're good at that. "Paige chuckled to herself as she tossed the empty bottle. She was unsteady on her feet. "I heard your little story about how you two met…all alone in the woods and Emily saved your life? Then you just kept on going back? Seems familiar, doesn't it?" She sent a pointed look Emily's way, but the other girl missed it.

Maya started shifting nervously as she got to her feet. She wrapped her arms defensively over her chest as she stared her down. "What's your point?"  
"What did A offer you, huh? What was Emily's life_ worth _to you?"  
"Paige!" Emily's protests died in her throat as Maya lunged forward, trying to take her sword from her side. She thought it would be easy to take it from her with how much she had drank, but Paige's movements were clean and fluid as she pulled back, drawing the sword on Maya and pressing the tip of the blade to her throat.

"You should probably know that I don't drink." Paige smirked, her plan to trick Maya in to making a move having worked perfectly. She'd seen something other than surprise in Maya's eyes when she'd told her that Emily was alive. There'd been fear there; a lot of it. "Now, what did A offer you to turn on Emily?"

"Nothing! I swear! She used me; I didn't know what she was planning until she did it…" Maya carried on protesting her innocence as she looked to Emily for support. The other girl didn't know what to think. The Maya she knew would never have sold her out to A, but the people in her dreams weren't always like their counterparts in real life. She couldn't be sure who she could trust.

"Start talking." Paige shoved her so that she was sitting back down on the bed. She kept her sword on her as she waited for Maya to explain everything.  
"Mona was the one who told me about the spell to make Emily and the others human. She was friends with Hanna so I thought I could trust her. I told Emily about it and she told the others. It was a trap to help Mona get what she wanted and I fell for it. I didn't turn on Emily, but I do feel responsible for what happened. If I could do things over…"

"Where did Mona hear about the spell?" Paige wasn't interested in Maya's sob story, or the crocodile tears rolling down her cheeks. Her father's motto had always been that a person should be judged on their actions; Maya had done nothing to stop A at the time and she had done nothing since. Crying about it wasn't going to change a damn thing.  
"The Secret Keeper told her. She told Mona everything, from how to make the goddesses' human, to how to get in to the castle and past the king's defences. She was the one who helped Mona take over."

"I was afraid you were going to say that." Paige remarked dryly. She looked like she had a bad taste in her mouth as she twisted her face.  
"Who is the secret keeper?" Emily couldn't keep up with their conversation. She felt a little out of the loop as she looked between the two other girls.  
"She's bad news." Paige grumbled. "But she's probably our last hope of finding Spencer and getting some answers. We need to get going. The goon from the bar left to go get the Sherriff; Maya probably already knew that." She sheathed her sword and pulled her hood back up over her head as she peeked out of the curtains at the street down below. It was clear. They still had time, but not much.

"Emily, please. I'm sorry-" Maya tried again to apologise to her, but Paige cut in. There was definitely no time for goodbyes.  
"We've got to move. Now." She took hold of Emily's arm and the other girl didn't put up any resistance as she started for the door. She only paused to look back at Maya once and she felt Paige's grip tighten as she did.  
"I'm sorry too. Mona's pretty good at using people…but I'm not the girl that saved you in the woods though, or the one that died in front of you. She's gone. I'm all that's left."

"Go down and get Shadow ready. Nobody saw you so they won't be looking for you." Paige instructed as she gently pushed Emily ahead of her. She had something to say to Maya alone. "When A realises Emily's alive she'll come looking for you. We don't know if you're still connected to Emily or not, so if you really love her at all, don't go getting yourself killed. Run. Save your own skin…you're good at that."

Paige fled from the room, narrowly avoiding the Sherriff and his men at the bottom of the stairs as they burst in to the inn. She slipped in to the shadows and snuck out the service exit in the kitchen. Emily was waiting for her out front and they were out of Radley before anyone could stop them. Paige kept a tight hold of Thunder's reigns from where she sat behind Emily, steering the horse towards their destination.

The farm was about a mile out of town, sitting on the very edge of the forest. Paige had ridden through it plenty of times with her father when she'd been younger and she knew it would be a safe place to hide. Nobody had lived there in years; not since Caleb's family had been murdered trying to defend it. She dismounted the horse and tied him up inside the run down stable attached to the farmhouse.

Emily was unusually quiet as she followed her inside the house. Paige knew she was close to reaching her limit and breaking down, but she had to give the other girl credit; she had lasted longer than she expected.

"Em, I meant what I said. If I'd been there when A came for you I would have given my life to protect you. You know that, right?"  
"I know." Emily nodded as she peeled off her borrowed cloak. She let it drop over an old ratty chair as she kicked off her Converse. Paige followed her cautiously as she headed in to the back room. It had obviously once been a bedroom, but all that remained was the mattress lying on the floor. Emily flopped down on to it with a sigh. "But I meant what I said too. I'm not that girl. I don't remember anything before I woke up in the lake. It's like I just woke up in somebody else's life. I have her face and her name, but I'm not her."

"So who are you?" Paige shrugged off her own cloak and removed her sheath from her waist. She placed them both carefully on the floor before sitting down next to the other girl. "I'm still figuring that out." Emily sighed. She lay back down on the lumpy mattress and Paige followed suit. "So what next? Do we go for the Secret Keeper and find Spencer?"  
"Yeah. That's the only the option we've got left." Paige didn't sound happy about it.  
"Who is she? How can she help us find Spence? How did she help Mona?" Emily probed, trying to unravel a little more of the mystery of the Rose Woods. Paige let out a heavy sigh as she propped herself up on her elbow.

"The Secret Keeper is the last living fairy in the woods. The rest of her kind died out years ago."  
"Like the dragons?"  
"Like the dragons." Paige nodded. She moved so that she was lying closer to the other girl. "Legend has it that fairies could see the past, the present and the future. They were notoriously devious. They'd tempt a person to trade their darkest secrets for a glimpse of their future, or the answer to a question they had."  
"Why, what would they get out of it?" Emily couldn't see how the fairies would gain anything by trading in secrets.  
"Knowledge is power." Paige answered cryptically, reminding Emily of someone else entirely.

Emily closed her eyes as she got a sinking feeling that she already knew who the Secret Keeper was. "I need to tell you something. I want to be honest, because lying hasn't really gotten me anywhere in the past."

"Ok." Paige wasn't sure she liked the sound of that, but she let Emily continue. She had plenty of secrets of her own and as much as she cared about Emily she wasn't ready to share them all with her. There was one secret that was dancing on her lips though and she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep it to herself. Emily started to say something about dreams, but Paige didn't hear a word. She leant in towards her, cutting her off with a kiss. Emily didn't seem to mind so much as she kissed her back.

Paige moved so that her body was covering Emily's as her hands ran up her side. The pads of her fingers were slightly calloused from years of training with a sword, but her touch was as light as a feather as her fingers danced over Emily's abs; leaving a trail of fire in their wake. Emily's own arms wrapped around Paige's neck, pulling her in closer and deepening the kiss. Whatever truth she had been about to share was lost as Paige's lips moved to her neck, drawing out a low moan from the back of Emily's throat. Her lips carried on moving as she whispered a secret she had been holding on to since the moment she had first laid eyes on the other girl. "I think I'm falling in love with you."

* * *

"You're quiet…are you still sick, or just mad at me again?" Paige quizzed as she buckled up her seat belt. She glanced over at Emily sitting beside her in her dad's SUV. She'd borrowed it so she could drive them up to the riding stables for the afternoon. The stables were in the woods on the outskirts of the town and the road up there was little more than a dirt trail.

"No. I'm definitely not mad at you." Emily bit back a grin. She'd filled Paige in on her dream from the previous night, telling her all about Maya and Mona's connection. She had left out one notable part of it though. It made her blush just thinking about what had happened after the Paige in her dreams had said those words to her. She'd woken up more than a little disorientated and in need of a cold shower before Paige arrived to pick her up. "Do you want to stay over tonight? My mom's supposed to be going down to Texas to see my dad this weekend, but she doesn't really want to leave me alone since I've been sick."

"So you want me to come over and babysit you? That's sweet Emmy." Paige teased, earning a playful shove from the other girl.  
"Don't be an ass! What I _want_ is for my girlfriend to come over and spend the night."  
"And I'm your girlfriend?"  
"No, I was talking about Spencer." Emily deadpanned.  
"Ouch! That was harsh Fields!" Paige chuckled as she started the car. "You might want to rethink your position on Hastings being your girlfriend, or else I may have to fight her for you; and we both know I am a badass with a sword."  
"I'll think about it." Emily laughed. "If you stay over tonight."  
"Sneaky…it's a deal though." Paige agreed, sealing it with a kiss. She was grinning from ear to ear as she pulled away. "Today is turning out to be a good day."

* * *

**A/N: This chapter and the next one were supposed to be one but it started to get a little long so I had to split them. I should have the next bit up in a day or two as I've got a few days off work.  
**


	18. Chapter 18

"Good morning." Emily's lips curled in to a smile as she felt Paige press a kiss against her cheek. Her arms were wrapped around her waist, holding Emily flush against her. Their clothes were in piles on the floor around them, though neither girl made a move for them. Emily almost laughed out loud at the notion that she was having some kind of affair with her own girlfriend. "Sleep well?" Paige quizzed, still half asleep herself. She looked relaxed, more like the teenage girl from Emily's real world than a warrior with an enormous chip on her shoulder.

"I don't remember falling asleep." Emily clutched the sheet around herself as she sat up and reached for her shirt. The last thing she remembered she had been riding in Paige's car. She'd still felt a little run down and it was possible that she'd dozed off on the drive. She expected Paige to wake her up any minute. "Are we still going after the Secret Keeper?"  
"We are." Paige followed suit and started to get dressed. Emily's eyes lingered on the well-toned muscles of her back and shoulders. There was a scar on her lower back, with a matching one on her abdomen from where A had run her through with her sword two years ago. Paige shuddered as Emily ran her fingers over it. She had tried to distract her from it the previous night, and if there was one thing Paige was good at it was causing a distraction, but she couldn't put off talking about it altogether.

"Does it hurt?" She asked, tentatively tracing the outline of the scar with the tips of her fingers.  
"Not anymore." Paige shook her head and took hold of her hand. She squeezed it gently before letting go. "We should be heading out. A's men will be looking for us and we've got a lot of ground to cover."  
"Don't we always." Emily sighed as she pulled her jeans on and did up the zip. Paige had encountered a bit of trouble with it the night before, never having seen one before. She'd almost ripped it right off with her impatience.

"Hey, we're getting closer to finding Spencer. This is almost over." Paige came up behind her and slipped her arms around her waist as her lips sought out the column of her throat.  
"I hope not." Emily muttered to herself. She had the best of both worlds and she didn't want to give Paige up in either one.

It was still dark as they set off to find the Secret Keeper. Emily kept expecting to wake up at any moment; she was after all only napping in Paige's car. They headed deeper in to the heart of the woods, going off the roads and tracks altogether. Shadow handled the challenge well. Paige seemed to be enjoying herself as she had him jumping fallen trees and navigating the thick underbrush. She was clearly skilled at riding and she was having fun showing off. Emily held on tightly to her waist as endless tress flashed by in front of her.

The trees grew thicker and more clustered the deeper they went, until finally they had to get off the horse and walk, or else risk getting themselves beheaded by a low lying branch. They carried on walking for a good hour until they reached a stone grotto. It didn't look like much on the outside. "I was expecting at least a castle." Emily wasn't impressed by the cave that supposedly housed the mysterious fairy known as the Secret Keeper. She had a good idea who they were about to meet and she couldn't see her living in a squalid hole in the ground.

"It's a glamour, a fairy charm that hides the real dwelling from human eyes. Can't you see past it?" Emily stared at the cave as hard as she could, but she couldn't see anything other than moss covered stone.  
"No. Can you?"  
"Yeah… I've got a little fairy blood in me." Paige shrugged it off. "You really can't see it? You should be able to, you're a goddess for…goddess' sake."  
"Well I can't. It just looks like a cave to me." Emily frowned. "You're sure this is where-"  
"Emily…" Time seemed to stop as a familiar voice washed over the teenager. She turned to find the Secret Keeper standing right in front of her, as clear as day. Her soft blonde curls framed her head like a halo and her skin was practically glowing. Her crystal blue eyes were like clear pools of fresh water.

Emily's mouth opened and closed, but words escaped her. The last time she had seen the blonde she had been choking to death in a carbon monoxide filled barn. That vision had been hazy though. The girl standing in front of her was very real; or at least she seemed as real as the rest of the Rose Woods. "Ali?" The blonde stepped forward without warning, crushing her lips against Emily's. It was a far cry from the chaste kisses they had shared when Allison was alive. Emily was half a second away from kissing her back when she remembered Paige was there. She pushed the blonde away just as Paige drew her sword.

"Come on Em. Where's the love?" Allison grinned deviously as she hopped up on to a rock. She was wearing a short white dress that rode up as she crossed her legs. Emily dropped her gaze to the ground. Her cheeks were flushed with embarrassment and she felt uncomfortable with Allison and Paige both staring at her. "Oh, that's right. You moved on." Allison crossed her arms over her chest as she raised a brow in Paige's direction.

"We're here for information, not a catch up." Paige glared back at her. She'd figured that the Secret Keeper would know Emily, the fairy was the last of her kind and the goddesses would be the closest thing she had to kin. She'd been a little taken back when Allison had kissed Emily, but she wasn't about to let her personal feelings get in the way of them getting what they'd come for.  
"I know what you're here for princess. Why should I help you?"  
"Because you're the reason A _destroyed _this kingdom! You're the reason that Emily _died!_"  
"And you mommy and daddy too, don't forget them."

Emily had to step in between Paige and the blonde as Allison jumped down from the rock and Paige drew back her sword, ready to attack. She was at her limit and Emily knew all too well what could happen when she lost control of her temper. "Stop it! Both of you! Ali, we came here for your help, so are you going to give it to us or not?"  
"Well look at you, somebody finally grew a spine." Allison teased, though she lost her smile as Emily scowled at her. "Look, I'm sorry ok? If I'd known Mona was planning on hurting you I never would have helped her. You know you were always my favourite Em." She moved to run her hand along Emily's cheek, but the other girl stiffened and pulled away.

"If you ever really cared about me then prove it!" She stood her ground, trying to guilt the blonde in to helping. "We want to know where Spencer is."  
"No you don't." Allison replied cryptically. She was playing some kind of game, it was written all over her face.  
"Ali-"  
"What you want to know, Emily, is why you come here every time you close your eyes. Why your so called 'dream' picks right up where ever you left off; and why this feels so god damn real." She ran her fingers along Emily's jaw. She didn't flinch. She was too stunned by what Allison had just said to her; she should have been used to Ali holding all of the cards.

"What is she talking about?" Paige growled. She didn't trust the blonde fairy as far as she could throw her. "Em?"  
"You know, don't you?" Emily ignored Paige's question as she stared Allison down. "You know none of this is real?"  
"Oh but it is, Emily. It's all real. Haven't you figured it out yet?" Allison smirked at her, her eyes alive with mischief. "You're not her you know. You have her name, her face, even her powers, but you're not her…You're Emily Fields, just a girl from Rosewood, am I right?" Emily nodded at her, unable to form a single coherent word. She had gone to Allison for answers; she just hadn't realised she'd come with the wrong questions. "I'll let you in on a little secret, you're here for a reason, and it's not to play nice with the natives. You're supposed to be taking down A, but you're letting _that_ bitch distract you in both worlds." She nodded at Paige, who was still lost in their conversation.

"You're telling me this is real?" Emily finally choked out. She was having trouble processing everything that Allison was saying and the ringing in her ears wasn't helping.  
"You know it is. You're here for an important reason Emily, and you're running out of time. You can't be so distracted. You _need _to be here…"

"Emily, what the hell is she saying?" Paige stepped in closer and put a hand on her shoulder, but Emily barely felt it. Her vision was starting to blur and she could feel her knees buckling.  
"I'm waking up." She could feel herself being ripped out of her dream and pulled back towards consciousness. She had never been so aware of it before. There had sometimes been a niggling sensation and the back of her mind, but it had never been so obvious to her before. It felt like someone was trying to crack her head in two. Allison smirked as she watched her drop to her knees in agony.  
"Now you're getting it."

* * *

"Jesus Em, are you ok?" Paige pulled the SUV over to the side of the road as her girlfriend struggled to catch her breath. She'd nodded off halfway up to the stables and Paige had just been about to wake her up when she'd sat bolt upright screaming.  
"I'm fine." She snapped out her standard response as she looked around the car wildly. She'd opened her eyes surrounded by trees and had thought she was still in the dream. It took her a minute or two to collect herself before she was able to try and reassure Paige that she was really ok. "It was just a bad dream."

"The woods?" Paige guessed, though it was hardly much of a presumption. The Rose Woods were all Emily had been talking about for weeks. It was starting to border on the obsessive. The other girl nodded stiffly as she pushed her hair back out of her face.  
"I don't really want to talk about it." She turned to look out of the window, hoping that Paige would get the hint and just drop it. Instead, her girlfriend leant over to squeeze her hand with a patient smile.  
"I'll be here when you do."

She left it at that and started the car back up. They were driving along the dirt road that led to the stables and Emily was glad they had taken Paige's dad's car; the SUV was already caked in mud from the drive up. She probably wouldn't even have gotten her Toyota up the steep slope. "So I figured we'd just share the same horse. You're still looking a bit peaky and I don't want you falling off on my watch; your mom would kill me."  
"And this decision wouldn't have anything to do with me spending the afternoon with my arms wrapped around you, would it?" Emily teased, some of her earlier good mood was returning as she shook the dream off; that was all it had been after all. No matter how real it seemed when she was in there, the Rose Woods were nothing more than a fantasy.

"Maybe." Paige grinned as she hooked her finger through one the loops on Emily's jeans and pulled her in flush against her. She laughed against her mouth as she leant in for a kiss. Emily happily obliged as she wrapped her arms around her neck, pulling her in close. Paige's body was warm and firm as she pressed up against her and the smell of her perfume was crisp and very real. "Are you ok?" She asked as she felt Emily clinging to her a little too tightly.

"I will be when you stop asking me that." Emily rolled her eyes, though her tone was light and playful. She slipped her hand in to Paige's and let her lead the way over to the main office. They were greeted by an elderly woman with a tight grey perm and narrow blue eyes. She was dressed in full riding gear and carrying a crop, though her smile was warm enough to lessen the severity of her appearance. It widened as she pulled Paige in for a hug. Emily hung back politely, waiting to be introduced.

"Emily, this is Gale. She owns the riding school. Gale, this is my friend Emily." Paige dealt with the introductions and the older woman turned her smile on Emily as she offered out her hand.  
"It's a pleasure to meet you Emily. Have you done any riding before?"  
"Uh…" It was something of a loaded question. Emily had spent countless nights riding through the Rose Woods on Thunder's back, but she wasn't sure that counted. "No, not really."  
"Well you're in good hands. Paige here is an expert, she can ride just about anything."  
"I'll bet." Emily bit back a smirk as she watched Paige's cheeks colour with embarrassment.

She led Emily over to the stables and seemed to know where she was going as she walked past half a dozen stalls. "Which one are we riding?" She started to ask but stopped as she spotted a steed a few stalls down. His coat was thick and glossy, and as black as night. His stance was gracious and he held his head proudly. Emily was drawn to him as she took a step forward. "Thunder…"  
"Actually his name is Artax." Paige slipped in to the stall and approached the horse with confidence. He bent his muzzle to greet her hand and let out a satisfied grunt. "How you doing boy?" She moved her hands to his mane as Emily cautiously approached the stall. She had never actually been so close to a horse in real life.  
"Is he yours?"

"Yeah, I've had him since I was a kid. I go riding a few times a month; not as often as I'd like to though." Paige started moving around the stable, preparing the saddle and getting the horse ready to take out. "I named him after the horse in _The Never Ending Story._ It was my favourite movie when I was a kid. It drove my dad nuts the amount of times I watched it."  
"Wasn't that horse white?"  
"Semantics." Paige shrugged. "He was loyal and brave, just like this guy." Regardless of what Paige called the horse, it still looked exactly like the one in Emily's dreams; before the dreams had started she hadn't even known Paige could ride, never mind that she owned a black horse.

_Haven't you figured it out yet?_

Allison's words were ringing in her ears and she had to fight down a wave of nausea. It wasn't real. It was a dream. There was no way it could be real. Paige had probably just mentioned the horse before and she'd forgotten about it. That was the only explanation. She pushed it out of her mind as Paige started talking her through how to the put the saddle on. Before long they were ready to go and Paige led the horse out of the stable. She helped Emily up first and slid on behind her, taking hold of the reigns until they cleared the trees and reached open meadowland. After that she handed them to Emily to take over.  
"You're a natural." Paige purred in her ear and she almost dropped the reigns altogether. Paige caught hold of them with a chuckle before returning her hands to Emily's hips. "Easy Fields, I don't want to end up in a ditch."  
"Maybe you should take over." Emily was having trouble concentrating with her girlfriend pressed right up against her and her hands sitting so low on her waist. There was one part of her dream she couldn't forget about quite so easily.  
"Nah, you're doing great."

They spent the rest of afternoon riding and Emily felt comfortable enough to direct the horse back to the stables herself. "That was amazing." She was glowing as Paige helped her down. "Thank you. I really needed this today."  
"The day's not over yet. How about I take you for dinner at the Grill, then we can head back to your place and watch a movie? I'll pick up my stuff on the way."  
"You're amazing McCullers, you know that?" Emily laughed softly as she took hold of both of her hands and leant in to kiss her on the lips. "You're always looking out for me and you always know just what to say."

Paige ducked her head with a shy smile. She hadn't always done the right thing where Emily was concerned, just as she hadn't always been able to find the right words. She knew exactly what she wanted to say to Emily, but the words had been stuck on her tongue for longer than she cared to admit. "Well, that's because I l-"

"Sorry, just a sec." Emily apologised as her phone started going and she had to interrupt the other girl to answer it. "Hi mom. Yes Paige is definitely staying over tonight and yes I'm feeling better; a lot better." She added with a knowing smile in Paige's direction. "We're heading back now so I'll call you tonight once you get to the base. Tell Dad I'm missing him, ok, love you guys, bye." She hung up, oblivious to what her girlfriend had just been about to confess to her. She tried to ask her about it, but Paige shrugged it off.

"It's no big deal… it can wait till later." It felt like Paige had been waiting an eternity to tell the other girl how she really felt, but she'd once again missed her chance. She supposed she could wait a little while longer for the right moment to come up; maybe over dinner, or once they were back at Emily's and curled up on her couch.  
"What are you thinking about?" Emily quizzed as they were driving back. Paige had been quiet since they'd climbed in to the car and she seemed distracted by something.  
"Nothing." She wore a goofy smile as she glanced over at Emily, only taking her eyes off the trail for a second. The road was narrow and uneven and it demanded her full attention. "It's just…things are kind of perfect right now."  
"Yeah." Emily stifled a yawn as she settled back against her seat. "They are."

Her eyelids felt heavy and she felt herself starting to doze off again. Despite telling her mom and Paige that she was fine she still wasn't feeling a hundred percent. Riding had definitely worn her out. She didn't want to go back to the Rose Woods to face Allison, but at the same time she couldn't keep her eyes open. She let them close over, figuring there wouldn't be much harm in just closing them for a minute. She heard Paige say something to her but she didn't quite catch what she'd said. Paige called out her name for a second time but she still didn't answer, she was already slipping away.

"Em! Emily! Emily, wake up!"

"Emily!" Someone was suddenly shaking her roughly and it was enough to get her to open her eyes. She found herself lying on her back, staring up at a cloudless sky. Paige was leaning over her, her expression a picture of concern. "Thank god you're awake."  
"No… I'm not." Emily closed her eyes back over and let out a groan. The grass beneath her was cold and damp and her hands sunk in to the mud as she pushed herself up to her feet. Paige was by her side, wrapping an arm around her waist to support her.

"You're more awake than you've ever been in your whole life Emily." Allison sat perched back on her rock, like a snake poised to strike. "No distractions."  
"What did you do?" Emily growled at her. She knew the smug expression the blonde was wearing meant she was up to something. Allison had worn that look her whole life.  
"Me? I didn't do a damn thing. Let's just say fate wanted you to hurry your ass up and take down A."  
"I was awake! I was talking to Paige, we were driving…" Emily couldn't make sense of how she had fallen asleep so quickly. It was like she had been talking one second and then the next she was waking up in the Rose Woods. Something wasn't right.

"Correction sweetie, you _were _driving. Then there was a crash. Right now you're lying in the middle of the road, all battered and broken. You won't wake up again until you've done what you came here to do."  
"Paige…" Emily's knees felt like they were buckling out from under. The only thing holding her up was the other girl's strong arms wrapped around her. "What's happened to her? Is she ok?"

"Em, I'm right here." Paige frowned, not understanding why she sounded so concerned. Emily wasn't listening to her; she was glaring at Allison, waiting for an answer. She needed to know Paige was ok. She'd been the one driving.  
"Just tell me Allison! Is Paige ok?"


	19. Chapter 19

"I'm sick of your games Ali! Tell me everything! Now!" Emily was starting to feel anxious. The thought that something had happened to Paige sent panic welling up inside of her. She couldn't help her if she was stuck inside the Rose Woods; and if Allison was telling the truth she wasn't about to leave any time soon.  
"That's now how it works sweetie. I trade in secrets; you want mine, then give me yours."

"I'd much rather trade _blows._" Paige was getting sick of sitting on the side-lines without a clue what was going on. Emily was clearly in distress, but she had no idea how to help her.  
"Oh princess, these are my woods, I can be gone in the blink of an eye and you'll never see me again; and Emily won't get any answers. So why don't you put that thing down before you hurt yourself?" She glared at the young warrior until she reluctantly lowered her weapon.

"What will it take for you to tell me everything?" Emily asked, quite literally making a deal with the devil. A cruel smile spread over Allison's lips. It had been a while since she'd had anyone to make a deal with.  
"I need a secret, just one; your deepest, darkest, secret."  
"Why? What do you get out of it?" Emily wanted to know what she was getting herself in to. She had shared her every secret with the real Allison, but the devilish fairy sitting in front of her was not her best friend. Allison was gone.

"Knowledge is power my darling." A cold chill ran over Emily as the thing with Ali's face used her words too. "My kind can see the future, it's a gift. The more secrets I collect the more accurately I can predict what's going to happen. You're not from this world Emily; I can't see your future until I have your secret."  
"And then you'll tell me everything I want to know?"  
"Emily, you need to be careful. She's a fairy, they're not exactly known for being trustworthy." Paige warned her. She had been wary about going to see the Secret Keeper in the first place. If there'd been any other way to find the Fire Goddess then she would have taken it.

"Look who's talking." Allison snapped back. She was running out of patience with the other girl's constant interruptions. She turned her attention back to Emily. "Are we doing this thing or not?"  
"Let's make this clear. I tell you my biggest secret and you'll tell me what you know about me being here, what's happened to Paige and where we can find Spencer. Understood?"  
"I'll tell you everything I know." Allison held out her hand to beckon her in closer.  
"Emily…"  
"I know what I'm doing Paige." She pulled away from the other girl and walked over to the blonde. She took her hand and allowed Ali to pull her in close so that she could whisper her secret in her ear without Paige overhearing; knowledge was power after all.

Emily wasn't quite sure what to say. She had plenty of secrets in her life, but most of them had lost their power over her when A had been unmasked. Allison was waiting expectantly for her to hand over her _biggest_ secret. She felt a lump forming in her throat as she thought it through. Taking a deep breath she closed her eyes over and pressed her lips to Allison's ear, whispering her secret to her. Paige watched as the blonde's eyes lit up with mirth. Whatever Emily had said to her had clearly had an impact.

"Perfect." Allison purred. She caught Emily off guard as she brought their lips together. The other girl reeled back, glaring at the mischievous fairy. Allison just laughed as Emily moved back to stand by Paige. "Sealed with a kiss. Sorry Emily, I couldn't help myself…she was always my favourite."  
"Who was?" Emily frowned.  
"The Water Goddess, silly."  
"I am the Water Goddess…aren't I?" Emily was having just as much trouble keeping up with everything as Paige was.

"No, you're not." Allison had always enjoyed holding all of the cards and it was clear she was revelling in it as she made Emily wait for the answers she so desperately needed. "You see there are two worlds, yours and ours-"  
"And there are two of everyone." Emily interrupted, starting to piece bits together for herself.  
"Not everyone, but yes there can be two versions of the same person; twin souls if you like."  
"So the Water Goddess was my 'twin soul', and now she's dead-"  
"Who's telling this freaking story?" Ali snapped, annoyed at having the limelight taken from her. Emily lapsed in to silence and allowed her to continue.

"When _my_ Emily was dying she knew she couldn't let A take her powers, so she sent them to you to keep them from her. Your world doesn't have magic, so you didn't notice the difference. You were never meant to be able to come here Emily, but you were so desperate to escape your world that your soul started leaking on to this side…now you're stuck here until you take care of A."

"And what about Paige? The one from_ my _world, what's happened to her?" Emily was desperate to know that she was ok. She had already lost enough people in her short life; she didn't want to add Paige to that list.  
"Sorry, I can't help you there." Allison shrugged.  
"What? But you said-"  
"I said I'd tell you what I knew. I don't know what's happened to her. There was a crash and you came back here, that's all I know. You should probably be more worried about yourself. You were hurt pretty bad."

"I was?" Emily swallowed hard as she felt a cold dread wash over her. "How bad? What…what happens if I die in my world? If my soul is in here and my body is there…"  
"Nothing happens. You die there, you live on here."  
"And what if I die here?" The teenager wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer, but she needed to be prepared. "If I'm not the goddess, if I just have her powers, then I'm mortal…and I can die here. So what happens to me back there?"  
"Nothing happens." Allison shrugged at her again with a sickly sweet smile. "You just never wake up."

The revelation was hardly a comfort. Emily had felt almost invincible in her dreams; finding out she could die was like being told she was actually made out of glass. She still didn't know if Allison was telling her the truth. She could be lying about Emily being stuck there. She could be lying about the accident. Emily could be happily napping in the front of the car for all she knew. Paige could be about to wake her up any second; she wasn't banking on it though.

"Where's Spencer?" If she was stuck until she took down A, then Mona was going down. For that to happen they needed to find Spence. Allison at least hadn't been lying about knowing where the Fire Goddess was hiding out. She described a location in the woods; Paige seemed to know where it was. She turned to Emily with a strained smile. She had been doing her best to keep quiet as Emily questioned the Secret Keeper, but she had plenty of questions to ask Emily once they were alone. "There's a stream just down the way. Why don't you take Thunder down for a drink? I'll catch up…then we'll talk." Emily wanted to protest, she knew Paige was trying to get her out of the way, but at the same time she wanted to get as far away from Allison as she could.

Once Emily was out of earshot Paige lost her smile altogether. "I have some questions of my own, and you're going to answer them or else the fairy race is going _extinct_ right now." Allison didn't seem the slightest bit intimidated by her.  
"Oh sweetie, you might be family with that little bit of fairy blood you've got in you, but I don't do freebies. Same rules apply, you want answers, I want your secret."

"What secrets did A give you? What did she trade you, huh?"  
"Everything." Allison answered honestly, her tone bitter. "That bitch had her ear to the ground her whole life. She kept feeding me secret after secret, until finally she had all of mine. I told her which knights would turn on the king, how to get past the castle's defences…how to make the goddesses human, and how to kill them. Emily died because of me…I feel kind of bad for that one."

"Then make amends and help us out! Cut the bullshit and tell me what I need to know!" Paige implored her. She kept a watch over her shoulder in case Emily had come back.  
"We have a problem there princess, because you only have one secret that I'm interested in, but you have three questions."  
"Enlighten me?" Paige cocked her head towards the blonde.  
"You want to know if you're going to beat A, and if you are, are you going to live through it? And finally, you want to know if you get your happy ending with our little Emmy. That's a lot of answers for once secret; even if it is a juicy one."  
"If you already know my secret, then why bother asking me to say it?" Paige was stalling, trying to figure out a way to get all of the answers she wanted with just one question.

Allison laughed at her as she tossed her hair back over her shoulder. "The power comes from getting you to say it out loud… I'll tell you what, I'm feeling charitable, so I'll tell you the answer to all of your questions; it's all the same one anyway. You want to know what your future looks like? Well it's bad." She smiled cruelly at Paige, enjoying the sight of her despair as her revelation sunk in. "You're not going to win; and you're not going to get the girl."  
"You're wrong." Paige growled at her, refusing to believe a word she said. Allison shrugged her slender shoulders indifferently at her. It didn't make a difference to her whether the human believed her or not.

"Whatever, you still owe me a secret; and you know which one I want McCullers." She sat perched on her rock like a queen on her throne, waiting patiently. "So, tell me who you really are… who your darling daddy really was."

* * *

"Miss, you can't be in here." Dr Kingston topped the teenage girl who was trying to slip in to his patient's room. She looked like she belonged in a hospital bed herself. Her left arm was up in a sling and there was a deep cut above her eye that was being held together by stitches. Paige McCullers had definitely looked better.

"I'm… her sister. Paige Fields." She croaked out, her voice hoarse from screaming at Emily to wake up. When the car had flipped off the road, after a deer had run out of nowhere in front of it, Paige had ended up pulling Emily out of the wreck. She'd fractured her radius close to the wrist joint, but she had ignored the pain in order to drag Emily to safety. After that she'd almost passed out on the side of the road right along with her. She'd managed to fight through the pain and the nausea to call an ambulance.

"I wasn't aware that Emily had any siblings...and I can't say I see the family resemblance." Wren narrowed his eyes on the teenager, though he kept up his patient smile.  
"I'm adopted." Paige was digging herself in to an even bigger hole with her lies, but she had to get in to see Emily. She would tell the young doctor she was Mary Queen of Scots if she had to. "Look, I was in the car with Emily. The last time I saw her she was lying in the middle of the road and I thought she was dying…please, I _need _to see her."

"Alright, but just for five minutes." He stepped aside and held the door open for her to go in. Paige thanked him before slipping in to Emily's hospital room. It was dark inside, save for the lights of the various machines that were hooked up to Emily's frail body. Her skin was pale and her eyes were framed by deep dark circles, as though she hadn't slept properly in weeks. Paige felt tears stinging in her eyes and she had to use the back of her sleeve to wipe them away.

"Why hasn't she woken up yet?" She asked as Wren stepped in to the room after her. "I mean, she's ok right? The EMT said there were no broken bones or anything; she just hit her head…"  
"Paige, do you know if Emily's been unwell lately?" Wren cleared his throat uncomfortably. He knew Paige was lying about being Emily's sister, but it was clear the young woman cared for her and they hadn't been able to get hold of Emily's parents to ask for a recent medical history.  
"Uh, she's had a fever… and she's been sleeping a lot too…why? What's going on?"  
"Has Emily travelled at all over the summer?"  
"She was in Haiti for a while. Why does that matter? What's wrong with her?" Paige demanded; she was running out of patience with the bumbling Englishman. "Tell me!"

"We're running some tests, but we think Emily may have Malaria. We're keeping her unconscious because there's some swelling on her brain from the infection. We'll know more in the morning when the tests come back. For now its best we keep her in what's known as a medically induced coma." Wren tried to explain everything to her, but Paige couldn't take in a word he was saying as she stared at her girlfriend.  
"Malaria? But she…she's been back for over a month, how could she get Malaria now?"

"It's not uncommon for symptoms to arise weeks, even months, after initial exposure. It can cause fever, nausea, muscle aches and fatigue. In some cases a particularly serious type of malaria can impede brain functions, cause lucid hallucinations and even seizures."  
"And you think Emily has this type?" Paige felt her mouth go dry as she realised Emily's condition was more serious than she had first thought.

"We're not sure yet. Whatever Emily's facing, she's in the best place for it." He placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder and squeezed it lightly. "And she has her sister with her."  
"About that...I'm not her sister, I'm her girlfriend. I'm sorry I lied to you."  
"Really? I'm shocked." Wren smiled in amusement. "I'll keep your secret though, and I'd stick to the adoption story if any of the nurses ask."

He left Paige in Emily's room, giving her a few minutes alone with her girlfriend. He'd told her that even people in comas could still sometimes hear what was going on. The knowledge didn't comfort Paige. She thought about Emily being trapped in her body, unable to move or speak, or to ask for help. She hoped that Emily was lost in her dreams, oblivious to what was happening to her in the real world.

She took hold of Emily's hand as she sat down in the plastic chair beside her bed. "Hey, I know you're meant to stay asleep, and it's selfish of me to ask, but please wake up. Please Emily, I need you to wake up, there's so much that I want to say to you… I love you Em. I've _been_ in love with you for so long…please just wake up and tell me you're going to be ok." She pressed her lips to the back of Emily's hand before trying a different tactic to tempt her to wake up.

"Come on Emmy, I'll make you a deal. If you wake up, I'll tell you my dad's nickname for me? It's a good deal; it's super embarrassing and you won't ever let me hear the end of it. What do you say?" She waited a beat and was met with silence. She hadn't expected anything else, but she still let out a heavy sigh and told her anyway. "It's Princess. My dad always calls me his little Princess."


	20. Chapter 20

"I'm the goddess of the damn water and I can't even make the rain stop!" Emily huffed as she trudged through clarts of mud. She was soaked to the bone and frozen from the fierce wind and rain that was lashing down against them. Her hair had become plastered to her face, so she pushed it back and tied it up. The rain had started falling hard and fast after they'd left Allison's grotto. The dense underbrush was still too dangerous for them to ride through, so Paige was following behind her, leading Shadow by the reigns. She hadn't said a word to Emily since she'd met her by the stream after talking to Allison.

"Except you're not the goddess, are you? You just have her abilities." Paige snapped at her as lightening streaked across the sky, spooking the horse. She turned to her old friend and caressed his mane to calm him. Despite the soothing words she was whispering to the horse, her eyes were alight with anger. It was supposed to be Emily's mood that affected the weather, but the brewing storm seemed more suited to Paige's less than sunny disposition. "And you're not from here…I don't know a damn thing about you!" She stopped in her tracks, refusing to budge as she glared at Emily like she was a stranger. The look cut right through the other girl.

"Paige, I have _never _lied to you! I told you when you first found me that I was just a girl from Rosewood. It was you and everybody else who kept telling me I was this goddess!" She threw her hands up in the air in frustration.  
"Yeah, you told me. You just neglected to tell me you weren't from this world!" Paige snarled at her. "What the hell was that thing even talking about when she said that? What other world is there?"  
"My world." Emily sighed, knowing she would have to tell Paige everything. "I've been coming here every time I close my eyes. I thought it was a dream. I thought it was just my mind working through the crazy that has been my life this last year; but it's not. It's real. This is real and I'm stuck here until I take down A!"

"Stuck with me you mean?" The anger was starting to seep out of Paige, leaving an aching emptiness behind. When Emily had come in to her life she had finally allowed herself to feel something other than rage. She'd just found out that everything she knew, or had thought she knew, about the girl she was in love with was a lie. It felt like A had taken everything from her all over again. "I might not have understood everything you and the fairy were saying, but I picked up on enough to know there's another girl involved. Someone you're desperate to get back to. So who is it?"

"It's you! Here or there, it's always you Paige." Her answer threw the young warrior for a loop. There was no sign of deception on her face. She was telling her the truth. "Please can we just get out of the rain and I'll tell you everything I know." Paige relented and led them deeper in to the woods until the trees were so close together that even the rain couldn't penetrate the canopy of leaves overhead. Paige removed the saddle and packs from the horse and tied it to a low lying branch. The last thing she wanted was for the storm to spook it.

"Can't you turn that off?" She nodded up towards the sky as she rifled through her packs for a dry cloak.  
"I'm not doing it. At least I don't think that I am." Emily wasn't sure about anything anymore. She had finally started to get a handle on her abilities, only to find out they weren't actually hers. She unfastened the broach attached to her borrowed cloak and draped it over a tree branch to dry. Paige did the same with her own and stripped off her armour. She looked younger without all of the padded leather and the weaponry.

She slid down the base of one of the larger trees and beckoned Emily over to her. Once the other girl was nestled in to her side she draped the dry cloak over both of them. She was still angry at Emily for keeping secrets from her, but she was willing to listen to what she had to say. "So this is the part where you tell me everything."

"Are you going to tell me what you asked when you stayed behind to talk to Ali?" Emily wasn't stupid. She knew Paige had gotten her out of the way to talk to the fairy alone. She was willing to tell Paige everything, but she expected the same back from her. "And the secret you offered her in exchange?"  
"Are you going to tell me yours?" Paige challenged. Their temporary truce was in danger of slipping.  
"No." Emily answered honestly. "I'll tell you everything; except for what I told Ali. I'm not ready to share that secret with anybody, not even you. I'm sorry."  
"So am I." She felt Paige tense up against her. "I guess we both have our secrets to bear."

* * *

"Paige! Oh my god! Are you ok?" Hanna threw her arms around the shocked teenager as she walked in to her hospital room. She was squeezing her tight enough to cut off her air.  
"She's looking a little bit blue." Aria pointed out as she took a seat in the chair by Paige's hospital bed. She'd been kept in overnight for observation since she'd passed out in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. She had a suspected concussion and a fractured wrist, but that was nothing compared to what Emily was facing.

"That probably has more to do with Hanna choking her." Spencer pointed out. "You might want to let the girl breathe a little Han."  
"Thanks." Paige choked out once the blonde had finally let go of her. Hanna sat down and made herself comfortable on the bed. She frowned at the cold lumpy mush that passed as breakfast in the hospital and pushed it aside. She'd had enough hospital food to last her a lifetime thanks to Mona. "You guys do know Emily's room is down the hall, right?" Paige frowned, puzzled as to why Emily's friends had shown up at hers.

"We do; but we had more than one friend in that car." Spencer's response took her by surprise. She had been getting closer to Emily and her friends, but up until then she hadn't really considered them to be _her _friends.  
"Besides, Em's unconscious and they won't let us in to see her because we're not family." Hanna rolled her eyes.  
"Though Wren mentioned her_ sister _had been in to see her." Spencer smirked at the other girl. "Nicely played McCullers."

"I had to see her." Paige slumped down on the bed beside Hanna. The pain meds they were pumping her full of had her unsteady on her feet and she'd been up all night, sneaking back in to Emily's room whenever the nurses weren't around. "It's my fault she's in here."  
"The accident wasn't your fault." Aria spoke up, trying to reassure the other girl.  
"Yeah, we checked with the cops so we'd know whether we were coming here to hug your or kick your ass." Hanna answered honestly.

"The deer jumped right out in front of you. There was nothing you could have done differently. We don't blame you and Emily won't when she wakes up either; so you shouldn't be blaming yourself over this. It was an accident." Spencer did a better job of trying to convince her, but Paige knew she was the one who was right.  
"She shouldn't have been out there in the first place! She was sick and I should have made her stay at home!"  
"Wren told me about Emily's malaria." Spencer admitted in a hushed whisper in case any passing nurses overhead her. The young doctor could get in to serious trouble for sharing that kind of information with someone who wasn't a relative of his patient. "If Emily hadn't been in that car accident then they might not have picked up on it until it was too late. She has a fighting chance now; because of you."

"Paige!" The door burst open again as Nick McCullers stormed in. He ignored the other three teenage girls altogether as he strode over to his daughter. "I came as soon as I could. I was so worried." He held her even tighter than Hanna had.  
"I'm ok Dad, just a few bruises and a mild concussion... the car is kind of totalled though." The SUV had taken quite a battering. When the deer had jumped in to the middle of the road, Paige had swerved to avoid it and the front tyre had clipped the edge of the road, sending the car spinning and rolling over until it had landed on its roof. If they'd been in Emily's car they would probably both have been killed.

"I don't give a damn about a car." Nick implored as he stepped back to check her over. "Just as long as my little princes is safe." Paige was grateful he muttered the last part, but from the look Hanna sent her way she guessed she'd overheard the pet name. "Your mom's coming back from Grandma's this afternoon and your doctor said you're ok to go so-"  
"No, Dad, I want to stay. Emily's down the hall, she's in bad shape and her parents are out of town-"  
"Miss Fields is in good hands. There's nothing you can do for your friend right now Paige." Nick chastised her like they were arguing over how late she could stay up on a school night.

"She's not my friend, she's my _girlfriend_!" Paige lost her temper and ended up shouting. She had a short fuse where Emily was concerned and she wasn't about to let her father drag her away from her bedside when she was in critical condition.  
"Girls, would you mind giving my daughter and I some privacy?" He didn't blink as he looked away from Paige to address her friends. They wisely did as he asked and left. Hanna squeezed her hand on the way out.

Nick pulled out the plastic chair from over by the bed and took a seat. His expression was neutral as he straightened his tie. The man had an impressive poker face. Paige had no clue what was going through his mind as he stared up at her. "And how long have you and Miss Fields been together?"  
"Her name is Emily, and I guess technically it's been a couple of days but we've dated before; it just didn't work out." She shrugged as she perched on the edge of the bed. Her dad hadn't taken her coming out as well as her mother had; not that she'd expected him to. He'd made his views on Emily quite clear the previous year when he'd accused the school of pandering to her sexuality.

"And what makes you think it will work this time?" Nick questioned her, though his tone wasn't accusing. He actually seemed interested in her answer. They'd never really sat down and had a proper conversation about Paige being gay before. After all of the screaming and shouting had ended they'd come to an impasse; Paige wouldn't talk about who she was dating and her dad wouldn't ask any questions. The arrangement had worked quite well over the summer when Paige had briefly been going out with Shana.

"I know who I am now. I'm not afraid of what people think of me…I'm in love with Emily and I don't care who knows it." Paige had been lost the first time she and Emily had tried to make a go of things; and the second time too. The teenager had faced her demons though and she was more than ready to step up to the plate for the other girl. "You can hate me for what I am, but-"

"I don't hate you." Nick frowned at her, though his expression quickly softened. "Paige, you are my daughter and there is nothing you could do that would ever make me stop loving you. I admit it's taken your mother and I a while to adjust, but we're getting there. You just need to give us a little more time Princess."  
"Thank you." Paige didn't know what else to say to him. She had been expecting yet another argument, not his blessing. She stood up and used her good arm to hug him. "I need some more time too. I don't want to leave Emily on her own, please just let me stay until her parents show up?"

"Alright, give me a call when you're ready and I'll pick you up." He relented as he hugged her back and pressed a kiss to her forehead. As he was leaving he stopped at the door. "Emily is a charming young woman. I'd like to meet her properly once she's well enough. Maybe she could come over for dinner one night?"  
"That'd be nice, thanks Dad."

* * *

"Are you sure this is where Ali said Spencer was?" Emily quizzed as she struggled to climb up the rock face they were scaling. They'd had to leave Shadow tethered to a tree at the base of the mountain. A patch carved in to the rock had led them halfway up, but it had trailed off, leaving them to climb the rest of the way. Paige was way ahead, scrambling up the rock face like a mountain goat.

Emily had told her everything about the world she came from the night before. She had shared it all, except for the secret that she had given over to Allison. Things had been tense between them, but it wasn't like Paige could take the high road; she had plenty of secrets of her own.

"Huge rocky mountain? Yeah, this is the place." Paige replied dryly as she reached down to help Emily up on to the ledge she'd reached. She pulled her flask off her belt and peered inside at the few mouthfuls of water that was left at the bottom of it. "Here, you look like you need this more than I do." Her fingers lingered against Emily's as she handed the flask over. As upset as she was that the other girl had been keeping so much from her, she just couldn't fight the response her body had around her. Emily moved her hand to cover the flask and focused hard on the water inside. Without warning it gushed up, spilling out over the rim as the flask filled itself back up. Paige couldn't quite bite back her smile.  
"Now we have plenty." Emily announced. She took a long drink from the flask before handing it back over. "I can't believe Spencer is living here." The rocky mountain was a far cry from the expensive ranch house her friend lived in back in the real world.  
"It used to be a volcano." Paige explained. She kicked at a rock with her boot, sending it hurtling over to the edge far below. "It's been dormant for centuries though."

"Really? Then where is that smoke coming from?" Emily shielded her eyes with her hand as she squinted up at the top of the mountain. There was definitely plumes of smoke coming out of it.  
"Huh. Let's go find out." Paige was grinning as she scrambled to her feet and offered her hand out for the other girl. She seemed to come alive at the prospect of adventure and danger. Her sulk was forgotten as she suggested a race to the top. Emily struggled to follow her up the cliff face. The most she'd ever had to climb was a rope in gym class. She might have been an athlete, but she was literally a fish out of water when it came to anything other than swimming. The sharp rocks bit in to the palms of her hands as she climbed and there were more than a couple of times when her footing slipped. Had it not been for the rope Paige had tied around both of their waists she would have ended up taking the most direct route right back to the bottom.

Paige had no trouble navigating the mountain. She was a graceful climber and seemed to know the safest places to put her hands and feet. "Did you go climbing with your dad as well as riding?" She quizzed once they reached the next ledge large enough for them to stop at. It was narrower than the last one and the two girls were practically sitting on top of each other as they stopped for water.  
"Yeah, my dad taught me a lot of things. He figured it was stuff I should know; riding, climbing, fighting, just all the stuff that comes in useful." Paige shrugged like rock climbing and learning to use a sword were just normal parts of childhood. "He was a good man, you would have liked him." She wore a sad smile as she looked out over the horizon, lost in memories of a happier time.

They had spent most of the day getting to the mountain and they were quickly losing light as the sun started to dip in to the low lying cloud, giving them an orangey glow and making the sky itself look like it was on fire. Emily reached out and traced the line of Paige's jaw with her finger. When she turned her head to face her she leant in to kiss her. It was the first they had shared since before meeting Allison. As awkward as things felt, the undeniable spark between them was definitely still there. Emily's lips were tingling as she pulled away.  
"If I tell you my secret, will you tell me yours?" She had been wrestling over whether to tell Paige what she had confided in Allison or not all day. She hated the rift that had formed between them and she knew the only way to fix it was to be completely honest.

Paige didn't answer straight away. She carried on staring out across the horizon, her eyes fixed on a point in the distance. As Emily followed her gaze she could just about make out the spires of a castle; Radley. Paige sighed as she closed her eyes over and nodded. It was hardly a pinkie promise, but it was good enough. Emily took a deep calming breath before parting her lips to let out the secret she had been harbouring all summer. "Remember how I told you that the Maya who lived in my world died?" Paige nodded again, not daring to interrupt as she watched Emily struggle over her words. "She went missing before she died. We'd had a huge fight and I was so worried about her. I kept calling and trying to get in touch with her and I never stopped giving up hope that she'd come back to me; except for the night she died. I was at this dance with the other you, and she was telling me all of this stuff about how she would fight for me and she'd be whatever I need her to be. When I was walking back home that night, the night we took down A, I was thinking about how easy it would be to just admit I still had feelings for her, to admit that I wanted her back…and then I found out Maya was dead. My girlfriend was lying dead in my yard and I was thinking about my ex. That's my big dark secret. The thing I've been hating myself for ever since it happened. Maya was dying and I gave up on her."

Paige didn't tell her she was wrong to feel guilty, or try and persuade her that she had done nothing wrong. She simply wrapped an arm around her lover and silently held her as Emily wiped tears from her eyes. The guilt over Maya had been eating at her ever since the night her body had been found and it had driven her to try and run as far from it as she could. That was why she had gone to Haiti for her summer; to get away from Rosewood and all of the ghosts it held. Paige brushed the pad of her thumb across Emily's cheek, catching a stray tear before moving in to softly press their lips together.

"Thank you for telling me." She murmured as she pulled her head back, but only by a fraction. Their mouths were still close enough for Emily to feel every word brush over her lips. "I promised to tell you my secret, so here goes…Emily, my father wasn't a knight. He was- DRAGON!" Paige suddenly leapt back as she reached for her sword, almost falling off the small ledge they were perched on. Emily pulled tightly on the rope attaching them, stopping Paige from tumbling over the edge as the other girl's boots dug in to the rocks.

She was about to ask Paige what she was talking about when a huge shadow suddenly descended over them. Emily squinted back up at the sky and felt all of the air leave her lungs as she gasped at the sight of the enormous winged creature circling overhead of them. Her throat was dry and she could feel a whimper building up in the back of it. She clung to Paige's tunic as the other girl drew her sword and held it up in front of them.  
"I thought you said that dragons were extinct!" She had to shout over the deafening noise of the creature's wings flapping overhead.  
"They are!" Paige shouted back, her eyes never leaving the dragon as it circled above them. Emily, however, was too busy looking up towards the top of the mountain, where they'd seen the smoke coming from earlier.  
"Um, Paige?" Emily tugged on her sleeve to get her attention. She didn't need to bother pointing out what she was looking at as a second shadow fell over them, and then a third and a fourth. "Maybe you should tell _them _that!"


End file.
